


Huntsman of the Digital Hazard

by Eliad91



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 92,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27069949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliad91/pseuds/Eliad91
Summary: Using the Relic of Creation to help build the CCT seemed like a good idea on paper, but nobody, least of all Jaune Arc, expected the new world that was waiting for them on the other side: a digital world. But with time and the new lifelong companions they would find on the other side they would achieve their digital destiny.(No knowledge of Digimon required for this story.)
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 49
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing. Thanks for reading everyone!**

  
  
  


Once upon a time there was a lonely little boy. This boy wasn’t lonely due to a lack of company, because he had many sisters, but rather a lack of peers. As the youngest of eight siblings with seven older sisters, and all of them living in a small village in the middle of nowhere, the boy found himself simultaneously lonely from a lack of other little boys to play with and smothered by the attention of loving and doting parents and siblings. 

His usual method for getting past this feeling of loneliness was to go explore the forests near his home. Out there he could do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted, he could be a mighty huntsman fighting off Grimm! A brave knight like his great-great-grandfather fighting in the great war to defend Vale! He could even go save the day with X-Ray and Vav! Foiling the plots of the Mad King and protecting the denizens of the city. But, unfortunately, pretend is still pretend and imaginary friends could only do so much to stave off loneliness. 

So as he explored further afield than usual this particular day, he found himself wishing for nothing so much more than a friend to spend time with. Someone his own age who he could run and explore with, to be his partner fighting the Grimm, or to be the X-Ray to his Vav. In these musings he stopped paying attention to his surroundings. He didn’t notice the way the fog grew thicker as he walked or the rainbow iridescent tint it gained, most importantly he didn’t notice the large egg bigger than his own head until he tripped over it tumbling head over heels.

“Owwww…… what was that? …..where am I?” He questioned as he looked up from his prone position. 

“Huh, it might start storming soon if it’s this foggy. I should start heading home before Mom gets ma- Holy Cow! That’s a big egg! I wonder where the mother is?” The egg in question was colored red and black in big zigzagging bands and big enough he could just barely wrap his arms around it as he went to go pick it up. 

Upon touching the egg though. light shot out from it enveloping the boy and the clearing they were in, blinding him momentarily. As he blinked the darkness out of his eyes, he found himself no longer holding the egg but a small, almost stopwatch looking, device with a blank touch screen face, a gold and red border around the screen, and a red strap coming off the top with a clip attached. As he studied the device he felt something begin to move his hair, short gusts of warm air blowing towards him. The boy froze and slowly looked up, eyes scanning past strong reptilian legs and claws, a white underbelly with a complex black pattern on it connected to a brilliant red body, equally strong looking arms likewise ending in wickedly sharp claws, and up to a large mouth full of very sharp teeth that proceeded to open and ask, “Hello, who are you? I’m Guilmon. Are you my friend?”

The boy stared dumbly for a moment processing what he was seeing and what had just happened and doing what came naturally, opened his mouth and proceeded to-

\--HoH--

-dry heave into the trash can in the corner of the airship. Oh colors why did Beacon have to be so far away? Why did he have to fly to get there? This was absolutely horrible, he couldn’t even bring himself to react as he felt the familiar clawed hand of his friend patting his back trying to comfort him, likely the only person willing to even come near him right now.

“I’m sorry Mama, Jaune’s not feeling well right now. Huh? Yeah he’s throwing up again.” Jaune could hear the conversation behind him as Guilmon’s claw rubbed small circles into his back between his shoulder blades as Jaune heaved again and, oh color why? There was nothing left to throw up. Why wouldn’t it stop?

“His medicine? Yeah it helped at first, but it’s a long ride and I think an even bigger part of the problem is nerves. Hmm? Oh yeah he’s super nervous. Alrighty I’ll tell him. Yes’m. Yes’m. Yes’m, I will. Me and Jaune love you too Mama. Bye.” Jaune heard the click sound effect of Guilmon hanging up. “Mom sends her love Jaune, also says she’ll send another bottle of your motion sickness medicine soon until you can find a pharmacist in town.”

“Thanks Gu,i I -uuurrrp- appreciate it buddy, can you -urp- please grab me a bottle of water from our bag? And please for the love of dust and color, please tell me we’re close,” Jaune moaned piteously as his body tried to vacate a stomach that didn’t have anything in it. Truly motion sickness was the greatest evil in all worlds.

To the other passengers of the bullhead they were definitely an….. interesting duo to say the least. A well built young man with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a white breastplate and gauntlets with red trim over a black hoodie and blue jeans and boots below the waist. The now named Guilmon, currently digging through their shared luggage, was a red dinosaur looking creature with red scales, a white underbelly, and black patterns all over his body. His possibly strangest physical feature was a pair of batwing shaped ears positioned on top of his head and the pair of goggles he wore that were currently perched atop his brow.

Jaune was definitely not having a great start to his day to say the least, his normal issues with motion sickness on flights were compounded by his nerves at his entrance to Beacon Academy, the premiere huntsman school for the Kingdom of Vale. Everything in his life, the training, the early months of he and Guilmon being poked and prodded by doctors and scientists, the laughs, the tears, the disapproval of his parents at having their darling baby boy becoming a huntsman, and the incessant ass kickings disguised as sparring he got from his sisters, who already were huntresses, had led to this moment. All he had to do was not screw it all up. Aaaaaaand there come the nerves again with another bout of nausea.

_‘Okay Jaune, you just finished with that no need to start it up again. Just sit down, lean your back against the wall, head between your knees, and deeeeep breaths.’_ Jaune told himself as he assumed the position and tried to calm himself and his stomach down. 

_‘You can do this. You just need to chill out and pretend the movement is from the front porch swing back home. You’re not gonna screw up, you’ve got the best partner a guy could ask for in Guilmon, and you are NOT currently thousands of feet above the ground in a shaky tin can that weighs thousands of pounds.’_

Jaune groaned as he gripped his head tighter while fighting the urge to rub the back of his head. The attempts to calm himself down were obviously an ongoing process. If nothing else things had to be looking up from here, yeah? There was no way anyone was having a worse morning than him.

\--HoH--

“Hey you okay?” Ruby looked up at the hand that had been offered to her. A gentle smile and blue eyes looked down at her. This had been a wonderful start to her stay at Beacon. Yang had just run off on her, that crabby girl had gotten all angry from an accident, then she had really needed to sneeze from all the dust in the air, then she exploded, then the girl who helped her just walked off and… it really wasn’t a great day.

“Can you ask that again in like four years?” Ruby groaned piteously from her position on the ground before taking the offered hand up.

“Heh, come on, let’s get you up. You ok?” The older boy asked as he lifted her to her feet.

“Yeah… just embarrassed mostly,” Ruby answered as she pulled her cloak tighter around her as her face flushed. “I’m Ruby, thanks for the help….. aren’t you guys Vomit Boy and the Dinosaur?”

“My name is Guilmon.” The digital lizard tried his best to give a friendly smile but that was a lot of, very sharp, teeth. Ruby shied away from the digimon smiling nervously. Dad had always said Digimon were pretty friendly, overall at least, but Ruby had never met one before.

“Vomit Boy really!?” Ok so maybe not something she should have called him out loud now that she thought about. Ruby was really bad at this whole making friends thing.

“Look, I’m just saying you retching in the corner for twenty minutes is a heck of a first impression. I didn’t know what else to call you. At least Guilmon gave me his name." Ruby awkwardly apologized.

“Well this is my buddy Guilmon and my name’s Jaune Arc short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, the ladies love it.” Jaune grinned while he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Do they really?” Ruby asked with a heavy tone of disbelief in her voice. 

“Not even a little bit.” Jaune smiled back, managing to get a giggle from Ruby despite the poor joke.

The now named Jaune smiled down at Ruby as he continued the small talk. “So where are you from? Me and Guilmon are from Domremy.”

“I grew up in Patch and went to Signal academy for a year. Which was where I made this baby,” supplied Ruby cheerfully as she pulled out the familiar, comforting weight of her scythe. All sleek lines and black and red metal. “This is Crescent Rose, along with being a variable scythe it is also a customizable, high impact, sniper rifle,” she grinned cheekily as she happily showed off her baby. Maybe it was a bit braggy but Crescent Rose was just so, COOL!.

“It’s. So. Cool!” responded Guilmon excitedly. Haha, someone with good taste, maybe dad was right about digimon being cool after all. 

“I use a back mounted rotary cannon for ranged combat, it fires up to a hundred high caliber rounds a minute at full rotation and I can switch modes to a central cannon with explosive ordnance for long range. My goggles also have a built in targeting system, magnification, and night vision.” Along with his explanation, Guilmon put down the heavy case he had been carrying and revealed the second most beautiful thing she had seen in her entire life. Sleek smooth lines and six barrels made to spin around a single central barrel obviously larger and made for ammo that packed a bigger thump. It was almost a religious experience taking it in.

“So you’re a ranged fighter? What do you call your weapon? What do you do for short range combat? How hard was it to make? What metals did you use in the machining process? I had been looking into high impact ceramics and composites myself to reduce weight.” Ruby rattled off her questions for Guilmon rapid fire, finally someone with enough sense to talk weapons.

“Yes, De-rezz, and technically hand to hand with my claws, tail, and teeth but honestly I just let Jaune handle it most of the time,” responded Guilmon smiling excitedly back at her.

“Oh?” Ruby turned to her other new companion as she saw him watching the conversation with a bemused smile. “And you Jaune? What’s your weapon?”

“I have a sword,” Jaune explained as he pulled it from his hip. A simple hand and a half sword of an old Valean design aesthetic with a cyan gem set into the pommel, a simple gold colored crossguard, and a crimson fuller going the length of the blade. She should probably go back to listening to him explain the weapon too. “And its sheath expands into a shield and both are slotted to accept dust crystals for casting. Together they’re called Gardien Rouge” The shield itself was fairly simple in design, a classic kite shield with two golden arches set into the center, probably a family or personal sigil, and a crimson border wrapping the outward edge of the shield.

“Ooooohh…. very cool, what else does it do?” Ruby asked expectantly. Maybe the was a shot gun or submachine gun hidden in the shield?

“Uhhhh nothing really, it stabs things really well,” responded Jaune self-consciously as he reached up to rub the back of his head. “I used my great- great- grandfather’s old weapon from the war as a basis. I usually use hardlight dust in it so I can do some interesting things with it though.”

“Well I for one appreciate the classics. I think it’s a very nice weapon Jaune,” assured Ruby as the two continued their meandering walk around the campus. “Plus crystal casting is pretty hard, you must be really good to incorporate it into your weapon.”

“I still think he should carry a sidearm or shotgun or something,” quipped Guilmon in a teasing tone as he gave Jaune a look that Ruby couldn’t quite decipher. “Gardien Rouge is nice and all but what it really needs is an auto rifle mode but he won’t listen to me.”

“Oh that does sound like a good idea!” Ruby chipped in, supporting her fellow weapon nut. “Maybe we could incorporate it into the shield? But that runs the risk of lowering its durability. Oh! Oh! Maybe we could mount it to the inside of the shield leaving the body alone. It can fold out when he collapses it to the sheath form!”

“Naw,” Guilmon pushed back. “I think what Jaune needs is something simple and accurate at range. Maybe a scout rifle or sniper rifle?” Guilmon quipped as Jaune groaned. There it was again. There was obviously some kind of inside joke she wasn’t quite catching yet. That was okay though! Now they were all friends and they could make their own inside jokes to share together and Yang with her entire posse from Signal wouldn’t be in on it and it would be great!

Ruby stilled, actually… where was Yang? Or everyone else? “Guys? Which way is orientation?” Ruby asked with an embarrassed blush burning across her cheeks, as she realized she was hopelessly lost.

The two both started at the sudden change in conversation. “We were both just following you, I figured you knew which way you were going,” Guilmon admittedly sheepishly.

“I have no clue honestly, you got any idea Ruby?” Jaune put in his two cents.

“Nope.” If she had known she wouldn’t have needed to ask them.

“Well alrighty then,” Jaune sighed as he shrugged off his duffle bag. “That’s not great, let me head back to the docks real quick. Maybe there’ll be a campus map or something.”

“Wait I’ll come with you,” responded Ruby as the three set off back to the bullhead docks. Chatting the entire way.

\--HoH--

A quick bit of backtracking, plus additional five minutes for Jaune to figure out the map, and Jaune was able to lead their little group the rest of the way to the ballroom, where all the incoming students were gathered for orientation. It was a large circular room with floor to ceiling windows and a stage at one end with a microphone on top of it. Young men and women moved about inside catching up with old friends, making new ones, and just generally mingling. Ruby apparently saw someone in the crowd that she knew as she dashed off with a bye and nice meeting you.

Jaune sighed at the apparent loss of his new friend as he turned to Guilmon, “Well buddy guess it’s back to just being you and me.”

“Uhhh, heh, about that,” Guilmon started nervously, as he sent a guilty look Jaune’s way.

“Gui? What’s wrong buddy?” Jaune asked, feeling his brow knit together in concern.

“I kinda actually wanted to wander around and see if I could find any of my friends from Pharos,” Guilmon said apologetically. “I can still hang here with you though if you want?” Guilmon quickly added on, apparently catching some bit of discomfort on Jaune’s face.

“Naw it’s ok buddy,” Jaune assured his friend. “You go and have fun, I’ll see you later on ok? Say hi to everyone for me?”

“Yeah!” Guilmon nodded happily as he lifted on claw in a rough approximation of a thumbs up.

As Guilmon walked off, Jaune found himself defaulting to the oldest standby of the socially awkward and antisocial. He looked around awkwardly for a moment, stuck his hands in his pockets, and found a nice comfy corner separated from the rest of the crowd to kill time in. Spot secured Jaune dug through his pack for a book or comic to read in the meantime. Entertainment secured Jaune took a seat on the floor and nodded politely to his corner buddy who apparently had the same idea, some girl with black hair and a bow, and began reading.

No sooner had he gotten properly comfortable than he heard the slight feedback of a microphone, and looked up to see a silver haired gentleman in a green suit beginning to speak.

“I look around this room and I see unrealized potential and wasted energy. You hope to correct this with the knowledge and training you will receive here, but you will find that these things can only carry you so far. What you accomplish is up to you and the work you are willing to put in. Welcome to Beacon Academy, I leave you in the hands of my deputy Miss Glynda Goodwitch. She will handle announcements and instructions for the day. I hope to see you all in class.”

That was... interesting to say the least. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with the speech but weren’t these kinds of things usually a bit more long winded? Regardless Ozpin was soon replaced by a stern looking blonde woman in glasses, “You will gather here in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Some of you may have also noticed someone possibly unexpected in the crowd. If I could have misters Jaune Arc and Guilmon come to the stage please?”

Surprised by the unexpected request Jaune did as the woman asked. He and Guilmon made their way through the crowd, Jaune in particular shrinking from the stares and curious looks he received from the crowd. Soon enough the two made their way up the steps of the stage going to stand next to the stern huntress. 

Glynda side eyed the two for just a moment before addressing the crowd once again, “These two are among the first of the new digimon tamer teams, and as part of the new Digital Hunter Initiative Guilmon himself is the first digimon in Vale to receive proper huntsman training and have his aura unlocked. Due to their bonded nature he and Mr. Arc will be treated as a singular entity in terms of team rosters. I expect you all to treat them with the due respect and consideration you would grant any other huntsman. That will be all.”

After finishing the fairly succinct speech and announcements Glynda left the ballroom and Jaune quietly made his way off the stage more than a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. As the two made their way back to Jaune’s original spot they found themselves face to face with what could only be described as the human lovechild of caffeine, sugar, and crack cocaine.

“OH! MY! KNIGHTS! That’s so cool! So you guys are like new super hunters? Special Agent Hunters? A Huntsmon? And you, you’re the Guilmon right? What are you a dinosaur? Dragon? Can you breathe fire? Lightning? Bubbles? Syrup!? We’re gonna be best friends! You should meet my brother! Ren come here! Meet our new best friends! Ohhh maybe we should team up together!”

“I- I’m Guilmon,” responded the red dinosaur dazed and confused by the onslaught of questions from pink and orange blur circling around him.

“Nora, maybe let them breathe a bit,” came a new voice who Jaune could only assume was Ren. Ren was apparently a young Mistrali man of average height maybe three or four inches shorter than him, dressed in green with a streak of hot pink through his black hair. Nora, the hyperactive carrot top , was quite petite sitting at maybe five feet tall dressed in black and pink clothing

“Hello, I am Lie Ren, it is nice to meet you.” Said the quiet, laid back young man. “You’ve already met Nora, sorry for her, she can be a bit much at first.”

“Ha! Rennie you’re such a kidder!” The girl laughed as she slapped Jaune on the back, hard. “Everyone loves me! Can’t you tell? We’re already best buddies, right Jaunie?”

“Sure, why not?” Jaune smiled, in spite of himself Jaune found himself drawn to the girl’s manic energy. “After all, like my mom always said, a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet.”

After all the two seemed nice and it would be good to make new friends. Still though probably also best to ask his brother as well, “What do you think Guilmon? New buds?”

“Sure! Ohhh, Nora! We should have a secret handshake or a signal or something so that way we know it’s us when we meet in the field!” 

Nora gasped in delight as she clapped her, “That’s a great idea! I know I’ll coo like a sloth!”

“And I can roar like a monochromon!” Guilmon responded excitedly.

“I have no idea what that sounds like!” cheered Nora.

“That’s okay I don’t know what sloths sound like either.” Chipped in Guilmon with equal energy and maybe just a hint of friendly sarcasm.

Jaune just smiled and shook his head as the two continued on with their conversation, each now trying their best to explain to the other what their respective animal call sounded like. Jaune was glad for having met the two huntsman hopefuls. While digimon weren’t a complete unknown over the past decade or two, some friendly examples choosing to stay on this side and live in human cities or villages, they were still fairly rare in Remnant. 

There was _maybe_ one friendly, sapient digimon per thousand humans? And even then Guilmon wasn’t exactly the cute and cuddly type, so while there hadn’t been anyone they’d come across on campus yet that was outright hostile to him there hadn’t been anyone so downright welcoming either and Jaune told Ren as much.

“Ah, there’s a reason for that,” Ren nodded in understanding. He spoke quietly and slowly, as if he was picking his words one at a time. “Nora and I grew up around digimon. The woman who took us in fostered several other children as well, including both digimon and human over the years.” Ren explained quietly and dipped into silence before piping up again. “One of our teachers at combat school was also a ProfessorAgumon.” Huh, he must’ve just remembered that.

“They let a rookie level digimon teach at combat school?” Jaune asked, surprised.

“It was general studies,” Ren explained as Jaune nodded in understanding.

“Huh, cool. What were they like? I’ll tell you my stories if you tell me yours?” Jaune proposed.

“I think that sounds like a good way to spend the evening,” responded Ren in that same monotone, and so the four of them bedded down for the evening, chatting and sharing stories until lights out.

\--HoH--

It was early morning, the sun was shining, birds were probably singing, and Nora was sneaking in a quick phone call home. 

“Hey Mom, I’m not catching you at a bad time am I? I’m still getting used to the time zones.” Nora asked with a small smile and only a little of the manic energy she displayed most of the time.

“You’re good kid,” Nora heard a gruff, but not unfeminine voice chuckle from the other end of the line. “It’s only a little after six in the evening out here. Did you two have a safe trip?”

“Yup! Smooth sailing all the way.” Quite literally actually. Boats were way cheaper than cross continental flight and the voyage had been blessedly short and sweet for the distance traveled.

“Anyone try and give you kids any trouble? Do I need to make a trip out there?” 

“We’re fine mom,” Nora groaned playfully in response to the, mostly, joking question. “Me and Ren are all grown up now, we can take care of ourselves. I promise.”

“I know,” Rena’s voice supplied full of warmth. “Still though, I worry. It’s a mom’s job after all. You’ll learn one day when you have your own brats.” The conversation dropped into a pleasant lull for a moment before Rena broke the silence anew.

“So you and Ren make any new friends yet?” Nora heard the voice ask curiously over the phone.

“Yeah actually!” Nora cheered, brightening up at the memory of the two from the night before. “Two of them actually one of them is actually a digimon who’s trying to become a huntsman too. Guilmon and his tamer, Jaune Arc.” Nora mumbled a bit at mentioning the tall boy’s name.

“Ohhh?” Nora cursed internally as Rena’s voice took on a teasing tone. “And what can you tell me about this Jaune Arc? Does my little sparkplug have herself a boyfriend already?”

“Mooooooom, stop it! It’s not like that, I just met him. He just seems really nice, and tall, and maybe kinda cute in a really dorky way but I just met him. Anyway I think he’ll be a good friend.”

“And if I call up Ren right after this he’ll say exactly the same thing?” her mother questioned the teasing lilt in her voice ramping up in intensity.

This was getting bad, Ren was such a blabbermouth and couldn’t hold a secret for anything. If Rena asked he’d cave immediately and then he’d inevitably spread the info to Jaune and Guilmon by accident and it would make things awkward. There was only one thing left to do. Nora quickly worked her eyes to watery tears, quivered her bottom lip, and switched the scroll call to video. “Please don’t,” Nora pouted into the call as she stared back into frosty blue eyes framed by straw yellow hair.

It was a battle of wills pouting Nora versus playful Rena but eventually mother caved to daughter. “Alright, alright I’ll leave it be for now.” Nora wiped away the weepy pout instantly breaking into a victorious grin but her mother wasn’t done yet apparently. “Just promise me you’ll be careful and call me if anything does happen please? And just call in general, I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” Nora assured her with a cheerful nod of her head. “I’ll call as often as I can I promise!”

“Thanks,” Rena responded quietly. “I miss you kids, you know? Love you, Sparkplug.”

“Love you too, Mom.” Nora smiled warmly into the screen. “I do need to start getting ready soon though. They have us using communal showers for today and I want to grab mine before everyone else starts waking up.”

“Alright baby, you have a good day and do your best. Call me after ok? And give the flower a hug for me ok?”

“Yes momma, love you lots!” Nora assured her as the call ended and moved to go about her morning. Whatever happened next the day couldn’t come soon enough for Nora’s taste. She was ready to go and kick all kinds of butt!

\--HoH--

For Jaune, the next morning came all too soon, and with it Jaune’s nerves slammed back into full gear as he prepared for whatever came next, going over an impromptu checklist with Guilmon.

“Ok, extra dust rounds?” Jaune asked as he tied on his boots.

“Check.”

“What about explosive ordnance? Did you remember to mark your aura meter on your goggles’ heads up display?” The familiar creaking of leather and snapping of clasps filled his ears as he pulled on his breastplate over his hoodie.

“Check and Check, De-Rezz is topped off with three high explosive rounds as usual” Guilmon responded with a bored tone Jaune could tell was insincere, as he saw his partner’s tail flick back and forth with nervous energy.

“What’s today’s blend for your explosive rounds?” Jaune further questioned as he pulled on his gauntlets and belted on the attached armored pads that rested on his elbows.

“Let’s see extra dust crystals for Gardien Rouge along with it being sharpened and polished, check and check on my end.” Jaune said as he inspected his gear and ran a sliver of aura into both of the round polished crystals. He felt them respond in kind with the quiet and resolute yet malleable strength that was so very unique to hardlight dust.

What else was Jaune forgetting, he had to be forgetting something...“Healthy breakfast?”

“As soon as you calm down so we can get going,” laughed Guilmon. Jaune ducked his head apologetically in response, but who could blame him for nerves? Today was the day! If he could make it through this he was gonna be a huntsman! It was everything he’d worked towards and all he had to do today was not mess up…… Oh colors he was gonna be sick again. Maybe something light to settle his stomach would be the best bet.

As he turned to head towards the cafeteria he tripped over himself slamming directly into someone using one of the lockers next to his knocking both of them over. “I am _so_ , so sorry,” Jaune began apologizing before freezing as he went to get up himself and help up the person he ran into. 

Pale blue eyes set in a flawless face aside from a scar over one eye which instead of detracting from her looks only made her more fetching, like a warrior princess or wild snow fairy, this was _Weiss Schnee_. He must’ve stared just a bit too long cause the moment was broken as said angelic face twisted in anger before shouting, “Ugh, watch where you’re going dolt!” Chastened Jaune quickly stood up stammering out another apology as he offered a hand to try and help her up. An offer which was likewise rebuked as she slapped his hand away.

Jaune stepped back and away trying to stay out of her way while she picked up, and laughed nervously as he did so. Taking a quick look around he saw what he could only assume was her friend standing nearby, and ok what the hell? Deep emerald green eyes, and dark red hair, with smooth pale skin, between this new girl, Ruby, Nora, and the irate songstress it was like every girl he’d met in this school so far was a supermodel. How the heck did that happen? Still though best to at least try and be polite.

“Hi! Sorry again about running into you. I wasn’t paying attention while I got my and my partner’s gear set up. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?” He asked as diplomatically as he possibly could, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“Hmph, stay out of my way during the initiation if all you’re going to do is trip over everything like lummox and we’ll be just fine,” she grumbled. “Wait, aren’t you that experiment of the headmaster’s?”

Jaune’s mood dropped like a stone at the mention of the “E” word but he maintained his friendly demeanor. “Heh, yeah I’m Jaune Arc! Hunter trainee extraordinaire!” Gotta remember, dad always said confidence is key. As long as you come across sincere and confident people will definitely respond to it. 

“It’s nice to meet both of you. I actually know you,” Jaune said, turning to the heiress. “You’re Weiss Schnee right? One of my sisters loves your music! She has all of your albums.”

“Hmph, well at least you’re somewhat knowledgeable of those of higher standing than you but how do you not know of Pyrrha Nikos!? The Invincible Girl? Undefeated Champion Duelist!?” At Jaune’s lack of recognition and questioning look she groaned, “She’s on the front of the Pumpkin Pete’s cereal box!”

With a gasp Jaune spun to face the tall red head, “That was you!?”

“Heh heh, yeah it-it was pretty cool. The cereal isn’t really good for you though.” The now named Pyrrha Nikos acknowledged as she gripped her left arm with her right hand.

“I mean it’s still cool,” Jaune assured her. “Plus Gui loves the stuff, he’s basically a black hole when it comes to food and loves sweet cereals. Thanks to him I was actually able to save enough boxtops to get the limited edition hoodie,” Jaune gushed. 

“So, how would either of you ladies like to join team Arc? Future best team in Beacon! Slots are mostly filled up but I might be able to squeeze one of you in if my friends are cool with it.” Jaune flashed his best attempt at a winning smile at the two, receiving a dry look from Weiss and kind smile from Pyrrha for his efforts.

“Actually Jaune,” asked Pyrrha, “where is your partner anyway?”

“Right here and headed to breakfast,” piped up the dry voice of Guilmon as he walked by with what had to be an eighty pound gun strapped to his back. “Jaune, come oooooon, I wanna eat before we have to go!”

“Alright buddy,” Jaune laughed. “Weiss, Pyrrha it was nice meeting both of you. Good luck out there today!”

“You as well!”

“Reliance on luck is unbefitting of a Schnee.”

As Jaune and Guilmon walked away the two slipped into a companionable silence broken by Guilmon after the ladies were out of listening distance. “So how did it feel to meet your celebrity crush?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jaune responded woodenly.

“I mean she was definitely really pretty in real life. The hair, the eyes”

“I was merely scouting out potential members for our future team.”

“Did you tell Weiss that you were a fan and had bought all of her albums.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. That was Violette who was the fan.”

“Oh really?” Guilmon asked snarkily. “So when I call home later to say hi Vi’s going to say so as well when I ask her right?” Guilmon needled Jaune relentlessly to which Jaune clammed up and hurried on his walk to the cafeteria.

A slightly tense meal with Guilmon’s teasing in the background and a short bus ride later, Jaune, Guilmon, and the others found themselves on a cliff overlooking the Emerald Forest. Tiny specks he could only assume were Grimm could be seen in the distance and he thought he may have heard the roar of something else in the far off in the forest. 

As each of them was directed to a small metal platform, they were given their directions for the assignment. Run in, find your partner by almost pure chance and then go to the ruins to find a relic. He could do this, he could definitely do this. …...Wait how were they getting down? 

Said question was almost immediately answered when he heard the clank of machinery and saw Weiss being launched off into the distance. “Really?” Jaune groaned in mock despair. “Why can’t you people keep your feet on the ground?”

“Don’t worry Jaune,” piped up Ruby next to him, Crescent Rose deployed and her stance ready. “I’ll see you when we get down there. Plus free falling is fun!”

Jaune could only groan and tighten the strap of his shield as the catapults slowly counted down to him at the end of the line. Guilmon closed in tighter, wrapping his body around Jaune’s lower half and in spite of his complaints Jaune couldn’t help the grin that slowly spread on his face. After all this was the start of his adventure.

_50 years ago, a good decade or so before I was even born, the world of remnant experienced the creation of a grand invention, the Cross Continental Transit System or CCTS for short. This system of four main towers supported by numerous smaller towers across the world kickstarted the beginning of Remnant’s digital age. Information could now be passed back and forth across the planet at barely a moment’s notice. Audio, visual, and even text based data could be transmitted in the blink of an eye and thus global communication became the standard for almost all people from all walks of life, but what most people aren’t aware of is that to help streamline the creation of this wonderful piece of technology Atlas used a Relic from a bygone age._

_The Staff of Creation that was used to power the floating city of Atlas was also used to help jumpstart the first tower of the CCTS. Broadcasting the signal that would soon be met by the towers of Vale, Vacuo, and Mistral. What no one was aware of however was what the coming age would mean in regards to the technology developed, the attention it would draw from outside forces, and the connection it created at the moment it was first switched on. A connection with a different world, a digital world, a realm simultaneously only as old as the CCTS and billions of years older than Remnant itself._

_This connection would go unnoticed for some time. The pathways between our worlds too narrow and ephemeral, the connection itself tenuous but given time the denizens of this strange new world would begin to make their way into our own through rifts forming in the border that separated our two worlds._

_The denizens refer to themselves as digital monsters or digimon for short, they appear to be creatures of flesh and bone but are actually beings of pure living computer data given physical form. The digimon, in time, would come through for any number of reasons ranging from exploration, fleeing from problems in their own world, or even just a playful sense of curiosity. Over time a friendship of sorts developed between our peoples for the good of both worlds._

_This is the story of those first few years of the rifts opening. Digimon both good and bad crossing over into remnant and our mutual battle with the creatures of Grimm and those that ruled them. More than anything though this is the story of my friend and former student and his experiences as one of the first digidestined in the world of Remnant, Jaune Arc: The Huntsman of the Hazard._

_-Excerpt from “A Digital Destiny” by Batholomew Oobleck_

  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTE**

**Hey everyone! Welcome to Huntsman of the Digital Hazard or HoH for short! Some of y’all who have been with me for a while will notice this is the rewrite I’ve been mentioning for proper editing, a couple new scenes, and some cleaned up grammar. I hope all of you enjoy the story!**

**Just a heads up for those of y’all who are new, no knowledge of digimon will be necessary for this story since rather than crossing over with any specific series I’m crossing over with digimon conceptually and pulling from overarching lore spots. Any digimon knowledge that is necessary I will either explain in story or as part of a Digital Destiny excerpt.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Digital Huntsman Initiative (DHI) was something I came up with and proposed to Ozpin and any other leader that would listen to me at the time. It had become increasingly clear the digimon weren’t going anywhere, and history has already shown that the races of remnant couldn’t get along with each other nevermind visitors from a new world. 

With the knowledge that some digimon had started to bond with children around the world Remnant, Mr. Arc being the first. Testing by the Council of Vale had shown there were no adverse effects from the bond and the digimon in question had seemingly been born on this side with no knowledge of the digital world proper and of a mental and physical age matched to their partner. 

The answer to the problems on the horizon, obvious to me even then, was clear. Raise them up to be huntsmen together. Give digimon and the people of remnant a common enemy, let the digimon be seen as new protectors, there to aid the citizens. Of course things are never quite so simple and nothing could erase all the fear and hate, in addition digimon have their own free will and morals. Not all of them would be perfectly benevolent but my hope was that it would help head things off and integrate the digimon into Remnant’s society and culture much more smoothly.  
Excerpt from “A Digital Destiny”  
By Bartholomew Oobleck 

For a brief moment, Jaune was weightless, and everything was peaceful. He could see verdant treetops laid out before him in an endless carpet of green and feel the grip of his partner tighten around his waist. He could see his fellow applicants that had been shot forward ahead of him begin deploying their weapons and preparing to use their various landing strategies. He saw all this and it was beautiful, and then that heinous bitch gravity grabbed hold of him and started dragging him back down.

Acting quickly, Jaune deployed Gardien Rouge and began channeling his aura to the dust crystals slotted in it and the sword. That same feeling of formless, resolute energy pushed back at him from the crystal and he began to shape it. Forming an image in his mind of a sphere of light three layers thick, he let the energy flow through and around him. The first layer to be stationary keeping Guilmon and himself stable, the second built to roll and bleed off momentum when they hit the forest floor, and the third built the same as the second and providing a safety net in case one of the layers broke. The bubble of cyan light wrapped around him and Gui both as they made contact with the tree line. A few seconds of chaotic destruction as they blew straight through several trees and doing their best impression of a wrecking ball they eventually rolled to a stop on the forest floor. 

“Thank you all for riding Arc airlines! Exits are in whatever direction you choose and don’t forget to tip your pilot,” Jaune snarked as they began making their way into the forest. Let's see, Ozpin said the northwest quadrant of the forest so judging by the position of the sun and the direction they had been launched in they would need to head just a bit further north, maybe half a mile or so, and then hook a left to go much further west. 

As they walked Jaune took a moment to just enjoy being in the forest. He'd always much preferred being outdoors and exploring the forest near his hometown as a child and that habit honestly hadn't changed, just the time he was able to dedicate to it. 

Plus in all honesty, now that he was looking around the Emerald Forest was actually quite nice, well nice for a Grimm infested murder forest anyway. Bright sunshine, cool welcoming shade from the trees, birds chirping, and a herd of boarbatusk directly ahead of them. Welp, that was unfortunate, seems like it was time to go to work. 

“Gui, piggies ahead, twelve o’clock,” Jaune warned as he pulled his weapon from his hip and strapped it to his arm.

“I see them,” Guilmon called back. “Same as usual?” Asked Guilmon as he began to prime and spin up the gun on his back. 

“Sounds good to me, I’ll handle the frontline and you can clear the back,” Jaune replied as he adopted a ready stance in front of his friend.

Jaune drew his sword as he readied his shield in front of him. The boarbatusks drew closer to the duo moving slowly until the lead boarbatusk pitched forward and began to spin rapidly rushing Jaune like a buzzsaw made of flesh and bone. Jaune ducked low, angling Gardien Rouge so that the boarbatusk would catch the bottom edge and its momentum would launch it upwards and over his head allowing him to turn and stab it in the soft underbelly all in one smooth motion before it hit the ground. 

The kill caught his attention long enough for the next two boarbatusks to reach him though, and while he managed to sidestep in time to dodge one the other was able to score a glancing blow to his side tearing a small chunk out of his aura. It would regenerate soon but still he needed to be more careful, especially if he needed to use his semblance later. Turning quickly he blocked a second attack from the Grimm that had managed to score a hit before going for an overhead swing that bounced off the bone plates on its back. 

Grunting in frustration as he rolled out of the way of yet another attack he primed his dust and slammed his sword into the ground pommel first letting loose a pulse of energy that spread outwards from his position hitting the boarbatusks with physical force. Stunning the two Grimm and knocking them prone for a moment. Seeing his chance he dashed forward, killing one and as the second tried to get up and move away a quick manipulation of dust extended the edge of his sword past the physical blade giving him the range he needed to finish it off as well.

As Jaune handled the three that charged forward he heard the familiar spin up of De-Rezz as Guilmon began marking targets and firing into the larger part of the herd. He heard a dull thunk and a whine before the center of the herd exploded taking out a group of pig Grimm and disorienting them first. With armored enemies and Jaune holding the line right in front of him, Guilmon would need to rely on precision shots at the moment. Boarbatusks could be an annoying target, between the armor plating on their face and spine and their tendency to curl up and do a full body roll to attack, but there were good soft targets if you knew where to look. 

The underbelly was a good choice and picked by most people since it had the largest surface area, a fact proven true when Jaune stabbed out again slicing a boarbatusk straight down the middle. A true crackshot could go for the eyes but that was a true pain in the ass shot to manage. No, Jaune knew Guilmon preferred the base of the throat, a sweet spot triangle that he could fire into and would be guaranteed to hit something important with the added benefit of being a much more forgiving target than going for the eyes set in an armored faceplate.

Jaune spared a glance back and saw Gui leaned forward, front claws digging into the ground for added stability to anchor him in place. A technique Jaune knew he preferred as the recoil of his gun threatened to either push him back or throw off his aim. A squeal and the telltale sound of tearing earth and vegetation alerted Jaune to a second wave of the boarbatusks running in. The sound of one three round burst later and the one charging at the front was fading into smoke and ash. With a flex of aura and will Cyan energy shot out from his shield to form a wall to halt the progression of the spinning beasts before Jaune shaped energy again from his sword this time causing spikes to sprout from the barrier impaling the monsters in front of him.

The cycle continued for a short while, Guilmon picking them off as they came closer and any that managed to break through would be handled by the bladed wall that was Jaune. At the end though while Jaune was tied up with a particularly canny Grimm the last boarbatusk managed to enter its spin and pulled wide before Guilmon could get his shot off. Out of the reach of Jaune it swung around and headed straight for Guilmon. 

Turning, Jaune moved to shout a warning but apparently it wouldn’t be necessary. He saw the telltale crackle of red energy across Guilmon’s body as the lizard channeled one of his abilities. They were almost like a digimon’s semblance, except the knowledge was apparently instinctual rather than something to discover. Guilmon’s main ability was pyrosphere, a condensed ball of super hot flame that Jaune saw gather in his friend’s mouth before releasing in a perfect orb of cherry red energy. It struck the boarbatusk almost pointblank in the armored spine and exploded with concussive force, knocking the Grimm back and onto its side allowing Guilmon to rush in with his claws. 

“Well, I think that’s all of them,” observed Jaune as he sheathed his weapon and did his best to regain his bearing after the hectic chaos of the fight. The sun was positioned that way and it was still morning sooo… ok yeah that’s the direction they needed to go in.

“Alright buddy, I think we need to be headed this way,” Jaune said as he led them deeper into the forest. “So who do you think we’ll end up partnering with?” Jaune asked Guilmon as the two cut through brush.

“Well I can guess who YOU want to be partnered up with,” snorted Guilmon.

“In my defense Weiss Schnee is obviously a capable huntress just on the grounds of her making it to Beacon. I obviously came on too strong earlier and given time I believe she could become a valued teammate.”

“Uh huh,” responded Guilmon a heavy tone of sarcastic disbelief in his voice. “Well I think it’d be better to pair up with Ruby, she can actually appreciate and smith a good weapon.”

“Ah yes, another lover of over engineered tools with too many moving parts,” Jaune snarked back good naturedly. The argument over design philosophies for weapons had been a joke between them ever since they first designed their gear back at Pharos.

Jaune heard Guilmon hum for a moment in thought before joining back into the conversation. “Well Ren and Nora are probably gonna try and partner up together, but we might still be able to end up on the same team. How about that red head from earlier you were talking to? She seemed pretty nice.”

“Pyrrha? I can see that,” Jaune replied uncertainly. “Still though to hear Weiss talk she’s apparently some kind of super strong, super huntress. I can’t really see her wasting time with us, she’s probably already found a partner and grabbed her relic.” 

\--HoH--

Said super huntress was currently dealing with a group of beowolves as she made her way towards where she had seen Jaune and Guilmon hit the treeline. Slicing upwards with her sword to cut the arm off of one she followed through with the momentum into a standing backflip over another that tried to take her from behind. As she did so she flipped a switch on the side of her sword letting the grip extend out into a spear she used to stab down into her unfortunate assailant. On landing she dropped to a knee mechashifting her weapon once again, this time into a high power lever action rifle as she placed two shots into the last of the beowolves killing it.

The entire confrontation had taken maybe thirty seconds total, from the first of them rushing her to her dropping the last of them. Her fighting was smooth, clean, acrobatic, almost showy, but still incredibly effective and deadly, like poetry in motion. This fighting style and skill had earned her championships, fame, and titles. Titles like the Invincible Girl and the Unbeatable Huntress and she absolutely hated them so. 

She was skilled, especially for her age, but people were too willing to attribute it all to natural talent and the like, devaluing her effort. She wasn’t so vain as to deny that she did have some natural talent and a semblance tailor made for fighting human opponents as long as they used weapons, and she did have a habit of making it look easy but people never realized exactly how much hard work went into making it look that easy. 

Hours and hours, years of her life spent only on training and full force sparring, refining her skills to the detriment of everything else for her sheer desire to be a huntress. Her social skills had suffered as a result and she knew they had. She could fake it just fine for the cameras and she was polite by nature but she had no close relationships outside of her family and her trainer, and definitely none with people her own age. Her only real attempt so far had blown up in her face horribly, that grimm-spawned asshole. 

Instead her social life was unwanted fame, with people that she had never met acting like they knew her. Like she owed them some deep emotional connection because they had watched her fight at some point. It was why she had chosen to attend Beacon instead of Haven after finishing at Sanctum academy. She had hoped a little distance and separation would help with the worst of it and maybe people here wouldn’t care.

But Vale was no different. At a huntsman academy especially, everyone kept track of who were the big up and comers, the ones to watch and the ones to beat. So everyone already knew all about the “Invincible Girl”..... Except for Jaune Arc, he had no idea who she was and even when he found out he didn’t really care aside from commenting on the Pumpkin Pete’s thing. He had come on a little strong admittedly, especially towards the Schnee girl, but he had also seemed quite nice and so very earnest, a trait she could appreciate. 'Plus he's kinda cute,' a traitorous part of her mind piped up as she blushed. No! No, there could be time for that later…. maybe. For now she needed to find someone, hopefully Jaune and Guilmon, to be her partner and complete initiation. Eyes on the prize girl.

Another ten minutes of walking and searching led her to the staccato sounds of gunfire and combat and the sight of her aforementioned prize dealing with his own pack of beowolves. She considered stepping in to assist but the two seemed to have everything in hand and she was unwilling to run the risk of distracting them at the wrong time. Doing so could make a routine battle turn poor in a moment. 

Instead she chose to wait and observe the two, they fought well as a unit but that could only be expected considering they were apparently trained as one from what Ms. Goodwitch had implied. Jaune was definitely good, his usage of dust to enhance his weapon physically rather than add an elemental effect was definitely different from the norm if for no other reason than hardlight dust was expensive and it took much less focus to just light your weapon on fire than form a physical shape. His digimon partner was also performing well, he seemed to handle the recoil of his oversized weapon by rooting himself to the ground and fired with more precision and restraint than one would typically assume when looking at the type of gun he used. All too soon the skirmish was finished and Pyrrha stepped forward to make her presence known. 

“Hello again,” she called out, putting on her best winning smile as she waved at the two. “I don’t suppose there’s still an opening left to join Team Arc? I’ve heard it’s the up and coming team to be on.” Pyrrha joked as she approached them.

“Hmmmm…… I don’t know, I think it’ll be a tight fit but we can probably make it work,” Jaune grinned, sending a flutter of butterflies through her stomach. That was gonna need to stop if they were going to be partners. Stupid lack of a social life, stupid rules against dating until she was old enough, stupid exes when she went and dated anyway, and stupid stupid cute blondes with boyish good looks, wild unkempt hair, and deep blue eyes.

“Well now that you’ve joined up with us Pyrrha, that’s the partner part handled at least,” Jaune began in a friendly tone as he smiled at her. “We’ve been making our way west and keeping an eye out for anything that looks like ruins or a relic along the way. That sound like a decent plan to you?”

“I believe that would be the proper course of action,” Pyrrha agreed as the trio continued on their way towards their goal.

“So your mother is a rabbit faunus?” asked Pyrrha curiously

“Yup,” responded Jaune with a happy smile. “Lazuli and Lapis like to tease her and dad about it. They say she’s perpetuating the stereotype.” The surprised look on Pyrrha’s face must’ve been obvious because Jaune had started laughing. Vigilance was important and everything but it was still a little bit of a walk, and apparently they would be pairing up for the next four years so they had decided to share stories about themselves.

“Ok, so which ones are Lazuli and Lapis again?” Pyrrha asked, trying to keep them straight. As an only child she was having just a bit of trouble fully comprehending the sheer size of Jaune’s immediate family.

“Oh they’re the twins, they’re kinda the middle children out of my sisters though Lapis is technically number four by about five minutes and she won’t let Lazuli forget it.”

“And do they have any faunus traits?” Pyrrha asked as she tried to gain a mental image of the women. “I hope that’s not rude, I’m mostly just surprised that you don’t have any if your mother is.”

“You’re good,” Jaune flashed an unoffended smile in her direction. “I’m honestly pretty used to it, you wouldn’t believe the number of people that refuse to believe we’re related when they see us out together. As to my being or at least looking more human, from what I understand it typically favors the faunus parent but it can go either way. There are three of us out of the eight that actually look completely human. There’s me, Ceris who’s the oldest, and Saphron who’s next up. Saphron lives in argus with her wife and they’re currently expecting their first child, Cerise is a huntress and according to her doesn’t like being held down but mom says she’s just too picky.”

“They certainly seem colorful,” laughed Pyrrha. “So is Cerise the one who trained you?”

“Her and Verde,” Jaune answered absentmindedly as he cut away at a branch in front of them. “Ceris uses a spear and Verde likes using her semblance a lot. She once bit straight through a piece of heavy plate armor to prove a point”

“Verde is the one who taught me and Jaune both unarmed combat,” piped up Guilmon. “Although mostly I think it was an excuse to use us as practice dummies that actually fought back,” the red dinosaur joked. “I still remember when she taught Jaune wrestling by using all the throws and holds on him until he figured it out.”

“Hey look! There’s a cave over there that looks promising!” Jaune blatantly did his best to change the topic as Pyrrha started to giggle at his expense. Plus he wasn’t wrong, the cave did actually seem to be a good lead there were some kind of drawings around the entrance that implied habitation once upon a time. It would be as good a place to start checking for relics as any.

As the three made their way into the cave Jaune could feel warm wind blowing from deeper in the cave. A faint glimmer of light could be seen further in, maybe that was the relic?  
“Hey Guilmon can you use your goggles to check what that light is? I think it might be the relic.”

“Sure, let’s see….” Pyrrha noticed Guilmon go stock still as he stared deeper into the cave.

“Guilmon? Buddy? You ok man?” Jaune asked nervously as Pyrrha began to tense.

“It’s not the relic,” Guilmon said back, obviously putting on a straight face.

Oh. Shit. “Any chance it’s the other end of the tunnel off in the distance and we should keep heading through?” As Jaune asked his partner, Pyrrha watched the light start to sway back and forth making its way closer to the trio.

“I think we should start running.” Guilmon said faintly as he started backing up.

Jaune and Pyrrha didn’t need to be told twice, turning and moving at a dead sprint alongside Guilmon, they exited the cave as they heard a roar and a crash. Pyrrha turned to get a look at what was chasing them and caught a glimpse of a massive deathstalker. Oh hell, it was huge and it seemed that the light they mistook for the relic was the scorpion Grimm’s stinger, aaaaaand it was gaining on them.

“Guys it’s catching up!” Pyrrha heard Jaune shout as she did her best to pour on more speed and create some distance between herself and the monster. This was NOT how she had pictured her day going, at this point she just hoped the others were better off than their group was.

\--HoH--

“Ruby this was a bad idea, a very bad idea!” Shouted Weiss, half to be heard over the wind and half out of anger and frustration. The two were perched on the back of a wild airdramon and holding on for dear life as it picked up speed trying to dislodge them.

“It’s fine! Digimon are friendly right!?” Weiss could barely make out the idiot’s voice over the sound of rushing wind. “Soon he’ll calm down, we can explain what’s going on, and he can drop us off at the ruins!”

Oh Colors and Dust they were going to die here, “You absolute idiot! SAPIENT digimon are friendly! The kind that actually live in cities and villages and are capable of speech! This thing is CLEARLY wild!”

“Well how was I supposed to know!?” She heard Ruby shout defensively as she gripped the yellow mane of the digimon tighter. “The only digimon I’ve ever met before was Guilmon yesterday and he was really friendly!”

“You’re going to get us killed! This thing is going to eat us!” Weiss shouted in anger, she would be having a talk with Beacon’s staff about admitting this buffoon.

“Well fine,” huffed Ruby, “Let’s just jump off then!”

“Are you kidding? That’s an equally bad ide-,” and she was already gone, Weiss realized, gobsmacked. “Oh that little brat!”

\--HoH--

Yang was having a pretty good day all things considered. She wasn’t able to find Ruby to partner up with her, but things could honestly be worse. This Blake chick seemed alright even if she was kinda quiet, and Ruby partnering up with someone else would be good to help her get out of her shell. And if they were an asshole, well, Yang would just snap their spine. Everything would be great!

This line of thought was rudely interrupted by the voice of said quiet partner. “Hey isn’t that your sister up there?” Blake said pointing to a falling Ruby.

“Wait. What? Ruby!?” ‘What the hell was she doing up there!? Oh shit she was falling!’ Acting quickly Yang deployed her gauntlets, Ember Celica, and launched herself upwards to meet her sister midair, using the recoil of her weapon to both boost her and control the direction of her ascent. 

Catching Ruby, Yang dropped back to the ground in a roll to bleed off momentum as they came to a stop. “ARE YOU OKAY!? What happened!?” Yang shouted panicking as she grabbed her sister by the shoulders and began looking her over for injuries. That was too close, too close to before.

“Heh heh, I’m fine,” Ruby responded dizzy and dazed as near as Yang could tell. “Just... you know, dropping in. How’s your day been going?”

\--HoH--

Nora was having an amazing day! She had managed to use her expert sloth call to find and team up with Ren just as planned right after they had been launched into the forest. And how cool was THAT!? Other schools might just drop you off or fly you in, Beacon used freaking catapult pads to launch you all the way there and let you use your awesome landing strategies at the same time to get down. She had almost managed a superhero landing! This whole “test” was an adrenaline junkie’s wet dream and Nora was loving every second of it.

She and Rennie definitely made the right call applying for this school. Speaking of, where did he go? Nora scanned the area around her looking for her partner before seeing him trailing a ways behind her. It seemed he was having trouble keeping up with her trusty steed Cornelius. She had told him that a mount was a way more reliable way to get around the forest in a hurry, but he just couldn’t be bothered to listen to good sense. As near as Nora could tell it seemed like he was saying something about slowing down and it not being safe, he really was such a worry wart. She and Cornelius were fine! He might occasionally act up but that’s what her hammer, Magnhild, was for!

It did seem like that last blast was a bit too much for Cornelius though as he dropped at the edge of a clearing and she tumbled forward off of his back. And there were the ruins just as she suspected. Truly Cornelius was the most valiant of ursine steeds, he would be remembered fondly for his efforts and trustworthy nature. Nora giggled to herself as she stood up and called back to her brother.

“Hey Ren, I found the ruins!”

“Nora, please never do that again,” panted Ren out of breath from having to chase down Nora and her trusty steed. If he was this winded after just that she would need to increase his cardio regiment. With his aura active a quick jog like that should’ve been nothing. Never mind that now though, there was a relic to grab!  
Nora dashed over to the ruins giving a friendly wave to the three girls already there. What to pick? What to pick? A flash of gold caught Nora’s eye and the decision was made. A large golden chess piece shaped like a castle tower made its way into Nora’s hands before she playfully balanced it on her head. “I’m queen of the castle! I’m queen of the castle!” Nora sang cheerfully, completing her task. 

“NORA!” Oops, looks like she had gone a bit too far again. Ren really needed to learn to lighten up a bit more. He was always so serious all the time.

“Sorry Ren!” Nora called out before she noticed a familiar flash of red and white at the edge of the clearing. “Hey isn’t that Jaunie and the Gui….? Oh no.” That was a VERY big bug chasing them.

\--HoH--

“Oh hey, I think we found the ruins with the relics.” Jaune called out as he did his best to maintain the dead sprint away from the giant rage monster behind them.

“Just shut up and run Jaune,” Guilmon reprimanded as they were STILL running from the monster. He had tried turning and shooting it a few times but the carapace on its back was too hard even for his explosives to pierce and he was starting to run low on regular ammo. 

The sound of another roar drew Jaune’s attention up to see a wild airdramon flying overhead. It looked more than a little pissed off, and was that Weiss hanging off it!? And now she was falling….. Shit.

“Jaune!” Guilmon called trying to get his attention as he pointed out the falling girl.

“I see her Guilmon! Quick, fast pitch!” Jaune called out the special maneuver as he primed his dust crystals.

“Ready!” Guilmon shouted out as he drew back a small bit behind Jaune.

Jaune moved ahead of Guilmon, getting in position, before he jumped upwards and wrapped himself in another layer of hard light as Guilmon fired his last explosive round from the central cannon in his gun. The explosive burst the barrier sending Jaune rocketing upwards towards the imperiled heiress. 

Catching her with enough momentum to actually send them both back upwards a few feet, Jaune turned to the surprised girl held in his arms and did his best to reassure her. Instead he stuck his foot in his mouth.

“So come here often?” Jaune spurted out and cursed his stupid freaking nerves and lack of a brain to mouth filter.

Weiss’ face turned red in either a blush or anger as she stared at him confounded. “Really!? Is this really the best time for that!?”

“Not really,” responded Jaune as he pulled his legs underneath the two of them and drew back his aura with a wince at what came next. “But I need something to focus on other than what’s about to happen. Please try not to move or this is gonna be even messier.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Weiss questioned right before they came to a sudden stop and Jaune’s world became a lump of pain below the waist as he felt both of his legs shatter below the knee and then immediately activated his semblance.

“Hey! Careful please you-!” Weiss cut off as she saw what the source of the sound was. She had no idea Jaune would be ok, legs were not supposed to bend in either of those directions after all. “Just wait right here, I’m gonna get help you’ll be ok!” Weiss promised Jaune with a panicky voice as he watched her pull out her scroll to try and call someone.

Jaune moved to calm Weiss down and explain himself when he heard twin shouts of his name and saw Nora and Ruby running towards him. 

“Don’t worry, just calm down, I’ll be fine.” Jaune shouted as he tried to reassure his impromptu audience through gritted teeth. “It’ll fix itself in a second, just do me a favor and try not to watch or listen to this next part please?”

“What are you talking about!? We need to get you to a doctor! You need medical atten-,” Weiss was cut off by the sound of popping and scraping as his legs twisted themselves back into their proper shape. Jaune turned again and saw Ruby and Nora slow to a stop and stare in wonder and maybe a little bit of disgust. Jaune couldn’t blame them, speed healing a broken bone always made a really nasty squelching and scraping noise.

“It’s my semblance,” Jaune explained at the questioning look. “It lets me spend my aura to enhance my aura. I can make myself stronger, faster, impervious to harm, or greatly increase the rate at which I heal.” Jaune grunted as the pain started to fade and the noises stopped, and stood up a little unsteadily as his legs were finishing their healing process. 

“Thing is even with my aura reserves which are pretty massive, using it this way goes through my aura like crazy. I can maintain it for maybe five minute before my aura drains completely and I have to wait for it to recharge, so I try to use it in small bursts. Healing costs the least so sometimes it’s better to take a hit and heal after than try to stop it in the first place.”

Jaune shook out his legs and got back to moving, he needed to get back to his teammates they were still running from the deathstalker… or apparently not as he saw them get launched by an errant swing of one of the monster’s claws to land conveniently next to the ruins and the rest of the class. 

“Are you guys ok?” Called Jaune as he moved in their direction, hobbling a bit at first with a pins and needles sensation filling his legs but steadily picking up speed. Nice thing about aura healing like that. It completely scrubbed lactic acid too from what they could tell. He was back to feeling a hundred percent.

“We’re fine, mostly at least.” Responded Pyrrha as she nursed her shoulder slightly as she picked herself up. “How’s Weiss?”

“I’m perfectly fine. No thanks to the reckless actions of my partner.” Weiss huffed as she walked up to join the group. “I don’t like this situation though, that deathstalker is obviously old and someone managed to get that dragon mad at us.”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” Ruby defended as she puffed out her cheeks in indignation.

“What I’m SAYING is discretion might be the better part of valor here.” Weiss pointed out imperiously.

“You want us to run?” Questioned Yang as she eyed the aforementioned threats warily.

“Why not?,” Chipped in a girl with long black hair and a bow, oh hey it was his corner buddy from the day before. “Our mission objective is right here. Nothing says we have to stand and fight these two. We can just grab the relics and go back to the cliff.”

“Works for me,” Jaune nodded in support as he went and picked up a gold rook piece from one of the pedestals. “Plus between the negativity that combat gives off and the noise those two are making I’m pretty sure we have a lot more problems heading our way.”

Jaune’s prediction was soon proven correct as the beowolves and ursa began to pour en masse from the forest at the far edge of the clearing. Everyone moved in unspoken agreement to the new plan, each set of partners grabbed their respective relics and began their mad dash for the cliffs.

It was a desperate sprint as the nine of them made their way for the cliffs. Jaune ran with everything he had. He heard the sharp popping of gunfire as those who had weapons capable of it fired back into the horde trying to thin the enemy’s numbers and keep them back. Every now and then he would catch a glimpse of Pyrrha firing her rifle or Guilmon spitting out yet another cherry red sphere of flame. The rapid staccato of Ren’s guns caught his attention and he watched as Nora fired out a grenade wildly behind her, not taking a moment to look but still somehow managed to catch two beowulves in the blast.

It might have been an exercise in futility between the number of the monsters and the lack of accuracy but still they tried. Soon enough they found themselves at the bridge leading to the cliffs, ancient and made of stone. Jaune got there first due to his lack of a gun and sole focus on running. With determination filling him he turned back to wait for the rest of the group readying his shield to deploy a barrier to cover the escape of the others. 

Weiss, Ruby, and her two friends, the blonde and the black haired girl, had just made it across the way when the airdramon from before made its presence known once more, crashing through the bridge and separating the Ruby’s group from Jaune’s. Ruby and her friends facing the bloodthirsty dragon, and Jaune and his friends now being forced to contend with the group of Grimm coming their way. 

In a moment of clarity Jaune decided on a plan of action and started snapping out orders. “Pyrrha, Nora, Ren! Focus on the deathstalker! Guilmon! Now would be a good time to stop conserving ammo buddy. Let the group have everything while we handle the big one!”

Plan of attack in hand, everyone took their positions, Pyrrha and Ren employing hit and run attacks to hold the giant scorpion’s attention while Guilmon ran past taking his position and unloading every bit of ammo he had into the coming herd. The problem was they still didn’t have a good way to handle the deathstalker’s carapace. The only one who still had enough ammo left to actually do something was Nora and the explosions from her grenades seemed to make it angry more than anything else. What they needed was something sharp to break through the shell like a stake or a naaail….. that was it!

Putting away his sword and shield Jaune charged forward as he began to use his semblance to start burning through his aura. A person’s aura is typically invisible until it breaks or takes significant damage, Jaune’s now shone continuously. A soft white corona of energy wrapped around his form, as he powered it up each step hit faster and with more force, the aches, pains, and fatigue of combat bled away leaving him fresh and combat ready as he became more than he was. It was easy to get lost in the sensation as it made him feel almost invincible. Like he could do anything he wanted, but it was a power with a cost that would get him killed if he wasn’t careful with it.

This in mind he leapt forward intending to finish the fight as fast as possible crashing headlong into the deathstalker knocking it back a step from the force of the blow as Jaune hit it with the force of a charging bull. Pushing his advantage while the creature of Grimm did its best to steady itself Jaune jumped and grabbed hold of the scorpion’s stinger, holding it steady.

“Pyrrha! Ren! Slice the tail!” Jaune called out desperately as he felt his muscles scream at the strain of the deathstalker fighting him every step of the way as he tried to hold it still.

“Right!” They called out in unison as each stepped forward blade in hand and slashed in a scissor strike that cut the Grimm’s stinger free at the base, black ichor flying everywhere.

“Nora!” Jaune called as he slammed the stinger down into the hard shell of the deathstalker and held it steady.

“Ohhhh I like this plan,” Nora grinned as she charged forward using Pyrrha and her shield as a springboard. At the top of her ascent she ignited the dust in her hammer sending her rocketing back down like a pink comet slamming Magnhild down on the severed stinger piercing through the deathstalker’s head killing it instantly.

Coming down from the fight Jaune let his semblance fade away. Taking a quick look he saw Ruby and her group had apparently managed to handle the airdramon, it’s dating drifting away to reformat somewhere else. A scream revealed Guilmon however was not doing well to Jaune’s panic, as he saw his friend apparently out of ammo and being overrun by the Grimm.

“Guilmon no!” He had to do something! He had to help! But Guilmon was surrounded with no way to reliably get to him in time. Throwing caution and concern for his own safety to the wind Jaune ran to his friend anyway. A bright and shining beacon of white light taking shape as he charged his semblance once more, cutting great swathes through the horde of Grimm with great blades of cyan light cutting through everything, trying everything in his power to get to his friend. Some small part of his brain realized Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren had joined him in his slaughter of the Grimm. Their progress was marked by white bone and black ichor but it wasn’t enough. Jaune couldn’t reach him, he was going to lose his best friend, his little brother. Then, when Jaune had lost all hope but held onto that simple wish to save Guilmon anyway, a miracle happened.

D.I.G.I.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N._

\--HoH--

Things had gone well at first, in a target rich environment with no friends in the way Guilmon could just pick a direction and unload. The only problem was, this wasn’t his first fight of the day and he could only carry so much ammo before running out all too soon. As to his melee skills he was good, easily a match for any one of the Grimm there, but quantity had a quality all its own and there were too many of them. 

He thought he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of Jaune and the others finishing the big one. That was good, Jaune would make it out ok and the others would definitely take care of him for him in Gui’s place. This definitely wasn’t ideal by any means but maybe next time around he could digivolve into something new? Maybe an agumon next time? Metalgreymon as a species were capable of flight and that always sounded cool to him. If he was really lucky he might even get to keep his memories next time around.

Guilmon made his peace as he felt his aura shatter and the sharp burning pain of claws digging into his flesh. Then there was power. 

There was no other way to describe it. Pure, unfiltered, undiluted, unadulterated, POWER flooded every single fiber of his being. Supercharging and rewriting the data that made up his body. He grew larger, easily dwarfing all but the deathstalker and airdramon, a shock of white hair grew in a mane starting at the top of his head to the base of his neck, sharp spikes like blades jutted from his elbows granting him another natural weapon, and his weapon, De-Rezz, shifted and morphed with him, breaking apart into strings of data before reformatting and wrapping back around him. A heavy visor wrapped around his eyes, a gunmetal gray breastplate wrapped around his chest, and two miniguns took shape one mounted on each arm.

Guilmon digivolve to...

GROWLMON: ARMA EQUIP!

Growlmon roared as he began to tear through the Grimm with renewed vigor. What once was too much became childsplay as he tore through their ranks. Innate knowledge of his new weapons and abilities flowed through his mind as ammo that he wasn’t certain on the source of began to fill the air as he squeezed the trigger and didn’t let go. Firing faster and faster the rotors began to whine as crackling blue and white energy began to build up in his guns before being released in twin beams with an instinctual cry of, “Dragon Cannon!” that scythed through the remaining grim like a hot knife through butter.

Turning, Growlmon saw three small humans staring at him in awe, well awe and a bit of excitement in Nora’s case. Jaune however had dropped to his knees openly crying at the sight of his friend, changed yes, but alive and well.

“Hmph,” Growlmon rumbled in a deep gravelly bass as he reached down as gently as he could to rest a hand on Jaune. “You didn’t think I was that easy to get rid of did you?”

“Heh, naw definitely not you buddy.” Jaune sniffed quietly as he hugged his friend. An admittedly awkward task with the size difference but Growlmon was in no mood to turn away the contact. “So how are we gonna change you back?”

“I have no idea.” Growlmon admitted.

\--HoH--

“Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long shall henceforth be known as team RWBY (ruby). Their leader will be Ms. Ruby Rose”

The day had become significantly more calm after the hectic battle that had capped off initiation. Guilmon had managed to shrink back down to his regular shape after a bit of time. According to Dr. Oobleck it had seemed like the digivolution was like a sudden adrenaline surge that wore off when he had calmed down, just an adrenaline surge times a thousand.

“Collecting the gold rook pieces we have Jaune Arc, Guilmon, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren henceforth known as team JGNPR (juniper) led by Mr. Jaune Arc.”

Jaune’s face lit up like an incandescent bulb as he walked up to the stage followed by his team. He definitely wasn’t sure about receiving a leadership position, but as his friends, his teammates, smiled back at him encouragingly he couldn’t help but feel his confidence return. After all, they were going to be the greatest team Beacon had ever seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thank everybody! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Will upload the next one Wednesday! I hope you all have a wonderful day and don't forget to love each other


	3. Chapter 3

_ The DHI proved useful in other ways as well over time. It was a font of knowledge granting us greater and greater insight into the digimon. The process of digivolution for example, you see digimon do not age in the same way we do.  _

_ Typically they will appear exactly the same for an indefinite amount of time and then when the circumstances are right due to a number of factors including age, combat experience, and general lived experience they will undergo a metamorphosis of sorts, going straight from one shape into the next according to certain life stages. The tiers for the forms are marked as Baby, Trainee, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega. The phenotypic variation in the baby forms being the smallest and expanding greatly as they progress before reducing again at the mega tier. Most digimon typically never go much further than the rookie or champion tier aside from powerful warriors or select individuals.  _

_ Typically when a digimon proceeds to the next tier there is no going back; it is simply the natural next phase of growth. The only exception to this rule is the bonded digimon. For some reason the connection between a bonded digimon and their tamer via the digivice, small trinkets typically found with the eggs of the bonded digimon, can trigger digivolution. In times of great danger and heightened emotions some form of energy transfer occurs allowing the bonded digimon to digivolve for short periods of time for the sake of combat before reverting back to their rookie stage after the danger has passed.  _

_ It is interesting to note that digimon don’t necessarily follow set paths for their growth. Digivolution is a deeply personal experience and what a digimon has gone through and what equipment they prefer to use can play as active a role in the digivolution process as their species. This knowledge of digivolution was one of the first and most interesting things we learned from Tamer teams and their digivices, well that and the way they interacted with the digital rifts. _

_ Excerpt from: “A Digital Destiny” _

_ By Bartholomew Oobleck. _

  
  


Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Jaune was being rudely awoken from his peaceful slumber by one of his teammates as he slept through his alarm again.

“Come on! Move it fearless leader, we’re gonna be late for class!” The dulcet tones of one Nora Valkyrie called out as he struggled to stay asleep.

“Noraaaaa…. Let me sleep,” Jaune begged as he pulled his pillow over his head and did his very best to not wake up.

“No can do, now get up. You can sleep in Grimm studies, everyone else is already headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.” Jaune heard Nora inform him playfully as she grabbed the pillow and did her best to pull it from his hands.

“I’ll eat a granola bar and meet you all there,” Jaune argued back. Sleep, all he wanted was a sweet, sweet twenty more minutes of sleep.

“Not happening, I told them I’d get you there no matter what and if I don’t get you there I’ll be both a liar and I’ll miss out on pancakes! You don’t want me to miss the pancakes.” Nora growled menacingly at the mention of missing her favorite breakfast food.

Jaune grumbled but, as a rule there really was no arguing with Nora. He got up and went about his morning rituals as quickly as he could while making small talk. “Did you finish the essay for Oobleck’s class?” Jaune asked with a garbled voice as he tried to brush his teeth and pull on a shirt at the same time.

“I just need to write the conclusion, I’ll finish it in Port’s class. Now come on! Mama needs her pancakes,” Nora joked as she urged him to hurry up. “After all, you wouldn’t like me when I’m hangry.”

“Well why did you even hang behind then?” Jaune asked incredulously, as he pulled on his socks and shoes.

“Drew the short straw,” Nora deadpanned.

“How so?” Jaune questioned as he put on his tie.

“Guilmon found out I had been snacking on his cereal,” Nora answered sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed grin.

“Ah, yeah, that tracks.” Jaune laughed, “Alright good to go, sorry for the wait.” Jaune apologized as he stepped out of the restroom, refreshed and ready for the day.

“Onwards!” Nora cheered. “Next stop, breakfast!”

Jaune couldn’t help but laugh to himself as they made their way to the cafeteria before class. It had been three weeks since initiation and settling in at Beacon had been an interesting experience to say the least. Not bad really, just a few growing pains. 

Each of them had been living under different circumstances and used to different house rules growing up. From a large family Jaune and Guilmon had been used to, if not cramped conditions then exceedingly cozy, and things typically being a system of share and shared alike, usually even if the owner didn’t want them to be. From the foster home Ren and Nora were used to similarly cramped conditions but followed a system of communal items being for everyone while personal items were guarded closely and jealously to prevent them from growing legs and walking off as the case may be. Pyrrha for all her amazing sweetness was an only child born to some level of affluence and it definitely showed with her being used to much more personal space and not having to really share anything if she didn’t want to. The concept of hand-me-downs was almost completely alien to her. 

With all these different systems and habits to work through, alongside the five strong personalities in the group suddenly thrown together in a small room well, there was a bit of friction early on. They were four hormone filled young people and a digimon in a traditional style dormitory that was apparently coed not just in floors but in rooms as well which should have been a recipe for disaster. 

Luckily Jaune and Ren had both been used to living closely with multiple women before and Nora was likewise used to living around boys. It hadn’t taken long before a system of sorts had been developed in terms of shower times, snacks, and whose turn it was to pick what they were watching on the TV. Jaune remembered the battles that had been fought over the remote when Romsky and Dutch came on at the same time as the Filmore Girls, which he still insisted was a great show. As life went on though the new was simply becoming the new normal and they all adjusted to each other, becoming closer as friends and a unit as a result.

Jaune caught sight of the rest of said new friends as he and Nora stepped into the cafeteria. Pyrrha was waving to catch their attention, Ren was calmly finishing his meal, and Guilmon was currently shoveling massive amounts of food into his mouth.

“Hey, morning guys.” Jaune greeted sheepishly as he walked up. “Sorry I overslept a bit.” And with said apology he sat down with his own meal.

“It’s fine,” replied Ren in his usual taciturn manner as Nora took up her traditional space next to him. “If you slept late like that you probably needed it.”

“Yeah, well, I can usually trust the scaly one over here to wake me up in the morning, but apparently someone couldn’t be bothered today.” Jaune snarked and gave Guilmon a very blatant bit of side eye as he said it.

“I’m not even gonna pretend to apologize,” Guilmon snorted. “You’re a pain to wake up when you get like that and Nora owed me a favor anyway.”

“About that, we’re square now right?” Nora asked with as innocent an expression as Jaune had ever seen her make as she batted her eyes prettily.

“Not even a little bit, I was saving that.” Guilmon shot back between mouthfuls of his own sugary cereal. 

“Uggghhhhhh it was just cereal! I said sorry!” Nora pouted with mock anger, before turning and making short work of her high stack of pancakes. 

  
  


“Shhhhh…. The criminal will accept her punishment with grace and dignity in penitence for being a filthy snack thief.” Guilmon joked back with a teasing lilt in his voice.

The chatting and small talk continued as they finished their meal and made their way to the first class of the day, Grimm Studies with Professor Port. Jaune shuddered in dread at what he knew awaited him.

\--HoH--

Grimm Studies wasn’t really a bad class, in fact Pyrrha genuinely appreciated the content. It was important as a huntress to have an in-depth knowledge of different types of Grimm so you knew what to expect in the field. Never mind their unique biology-that-wasn’t considering their lack of discernible organs and ability to go basically forever without needing to eat or drink. No, the subject matter was absolutely worthwhile. There was only one small problem with the class. 

“There I was!” Shouted a bombastic voice. “Surrounded by beringels on all sides, sans my shirt and my weapon! So I did what any reasonable huntsman worth his mustache wax would do and proceeded to challenge each of them to a barenuckle match one after the other!”

His name was Professor Port, a slightly older, large gentleman sporting a bushy handlebar mustache and grey hair split down the middle. He was also quite possibly the most long winded person Pyrrha had ever encountered. Most lectures consisted of boisterous tales and tangents about his adventures as a young huntsman in the field and she was ninety percent certain none of it was true. His stories had gained him a kind of reputation on campus as a sort of free period almost, students would regularly catch up on homework, sleep, or study on their own while in class since largely most of the actual knowledge for the course came from the textbook. The only real exception were the occasional live Grimm that he captured and brought in for practical lessons and supervised combat.

On this particular day though it seemed Port would be waxing poetic about his younger days for the entire class period, a fact she was honestly grateful for as she saw her partner doze off in his seat. She wasn’t sure what was going on with Jaune lately but his ever present tiredness had only grown worse over the past few weeks and while he was managing to keep up, he was also starting to look a little frayed around the edges. Maybe she could offer to help him with whatever was wrong? But what if she came off as pushy or nosy? But wouldn’t a good partner try to help and be part of their partner’s life? This was difficult. 

“And that children is the story of how I defeated Kerchak king of the beringels with naught but a hope and a prayer as my weapons.” Oh? It looked like Port was finally winding down for the day, Pyrrha realized as she was broken from her train of thought.

“Jaune,” she whispered as she gently shook his shoulder. “Wake up, Grimm studies is over.”

“Huh, whuzzat?,” Jaune blearily blinked the sleep from his eyes, “Oh, thanks Pyrrha.” Jaune laughed sheepishly to cover a yawn as he gathered his textbook and notes. “You’re a lifesaver you know that?”

“Any time,” Pyrrha smiled back as she fought the warm feeling that bloomed in her chest at his smile and a crimson blush stained her cheeks. She really needed to get this crush under control. It was getting really out of hand for a crush on some boy she had barely met. Still though, it was a very nice smile. Ok, you know what? She could do this. She just had to ask what was going on. She could offer her help with whatever it was and maybe she could fix it or at least listen and he would open up to her more as a partner and friend. It was full proof.

“Jaune, how have you been lately? Is everything ok?” Nailed it.

“Hmm? Yeah I’m doing just fine, thanks for asking though. Come on, we got history and politics with the Doc up next.” Pyrrha felt her stomach drop as Jaune waved off her concerns with a gentle smile before shouldering his pack and heading out the door. 

Ok so maybe she hadn’t nailed it after all. Pyrrha jumped a bit as she felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned to see Nora smiling up at her supportively. “It was a good try Pyrrha, just keep working at it and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”

Pyrrha very pointedly did not respond as her face turned red for an entirely different set of reasons from earlier.

\--HoH--

The next class was definitely Jaune’s favorite. Not because of a deep love of the subject material, though he did find it interesting, but because it was taught by the man that gave him an opportunity to be a huntsman in the first place. He was also kind of Jaune’s boss but that was neither here nor there. The gentleman in question was currently giving a lecture at blistering speeds. Seriously, that had to be the most concentrated caffeine in a cup of coffee in the entire world or some kind of semblance to generate that much speed and energy all the time. 

Ok so faunus history today, Jaune had a decent bit of knowledge on that. Basically they got tired of being kicked around and decided to do something about it, leading to the Faunus War. His mom said uncle Rex actually fought in the war so that might be someone he could talk to if the Doc had them write a paper over it. Uhhhh let’s see after that they basically moved as much of the population as they could to Menagerie, and that was mostly just to get them out of the way. Jaune had always been curious about going there someday but according to his parents there was enough of a White Fang presence on the island that it wasn’t the best idea to be walking around as a human if he could help it and mixed race families weren’t looked on particularly kindly anywhere. 

Lost in his thoughts and doing his best to keep up with his note taking, Jaune was neither prepared for nor expecting for something to hit him in the back of the head. Eh maybe it was just a fly or something. The second impact had him waving irritably behind his head while he tried to focus on his work, the third had him turning around with a whisper-shout of indignation to see Cardin Winchester with a smug smirk and a straw.

“Really?” Jaune asked incredulously, trying to keep his voice down. “What are you ten?”

“Mr. Arc!” A stern voice cut in causing Jaune to gulp as he turned back around to find the good doctor inches away from his face.’

“Y-yes Dr. Oobleck?” Holy crap that was really close, the Doc really needed to work on personal space.

“Thank you for volunteering to contribute to the class, can you please tell me what the advantage the faunus had at the battle of Fort Castle was?” Oobleck asked as he somehow managed to maintain eye contact with Jaune as he moved about the room at his usual frenetic pace.

“Most faunus have night vision as a racial trait, they chose to wait and launch a surprise attack after dark.” Jaune answered. That had always been a point of contention between him and his sisters. It was bull how often they managed to use their night vision to play pranks on him.

“Very good Mr. Arc, Very good! However I would appreciate a lack of interruptions in the future.” Oobleck complimented and reprimanded in the same measure. “I would like to see you and Mr. Winchester both after class.”

“ **Yes sir** ,” the two sounded off at the same time with the same dejected voice.

Class ended soon enough after that, and Jaune found himself seated front and center near his own personal pestilence Cardin Winchester.

“Mr. Winchester you have been struggling in this class since the start of the semester and I do not know if it’s simply a lack of interest or something else, but I will not stand for it any longer.” Jaune watched as Oobleck stared down the brawny boy as he calmly sipped his coffee. “I expect an essay on my desk from pages 51 to 91 by the next class. Am I understood?”

“But sir, what about him!?” Cardin demanded as he gestured wildly at Jaune.

“I said, am I understood Mr. Winchester? I held back Mr. Arc for other reasons. You, however, may now go.”

Cardin stood and left the room with an angry grunt and a glare towards Jaune who was doing his very best to act like he wasn’t there and not draw attention.

“Tell me Mr. Arc, how are you and your partner settling in here at Beacon?” Oobleck asked with a tone of genial concern.

“Uh, well enough sir,” Jaune stumbled over his words for a moment, was he not in trouble?

“Any particular issues I should know of?” Oobleck pressed. “I am not blind Mr. Arc, Mr. Winchester is good at not being caught in the act, but terrible at hiding the fact that he actually did something. Will I or another faculty member need to intervene?” Oobleck asked as he calmly sipped at his coffee. And sipped. And sipped. It didn’t even look like he was swallowing the stuff, more like he just poured it down his throat.

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary Doc,” Jaune reassured the doc gratefully. “If all his pranks are just spit wads and other stuff a 12 year old would do I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble handling it myself.”

“Very well Mr. Arc I will respect your decision, if that is all on that subject then I will need to tell you now, that I will need to see you at half past three this afternoon. After having given you and your team time to settle in as it were, it has been agreed that it is time for you to start taking part in your duties as an applicant to the Digital Huntsman Initiative.”

‘ _ Oh shit! _ ’ Jaune thought as a thrill of excitement flowed through him. “Oh! Okay then,” Jaune responded confidently, now understanding exactly why he was held back, “will Guilmon and I be starting missions then?”

“That would be a question for this afternoon Mr. Arc, for now I simply wished to inform you that we would be starting our work and when to meet.”

“Should I bring my team along sir? They’re not really a part of this the way Guilmon and I are.”

“They are not required to join us no.” Oobleck answered as he came back to stock still, it was almost eerie how the man could go from all out rapid movement to stock still instantly. “However I would urge you to explain the situation to them and give them the choice to attend if they so choose. This work and these studies will be history in the making, young man. It would be a shame not to give them the opportunity to take part”

“Okay Doc,” Jaune nodded in affirmation. “Is there anything else you need me for sir?”

“No Mr. Arc that will be all. For now go enjoy the rest of your day, do well in class, and just so you know I heard from the grapevine that your cousin’s team just returned from their mission this morning. If you hurry you may catch them in the cafeteria for lunch.” Oobleck got out all at once, the words piling on top of each other as he left the classroom at speed.

Jaune nodded a quick thanks to Oobleck as he packed his textbook and notes, his mind awhirl. Things were actually starting now, the very thing that got him this chance to be a Huntsman, he and Guilmon would be doing actual missions! Sure there would probably still be more tests and research and stuff, but this would make those years of he and Guilmon training with everything they had and the months of getting poked and prodded with needles worth it. 

Said train of thought got cut off by a yawn as he shouldered his pack, looks like the late nights were gonna be getting worse but he could take it, it was everything he wanted. He just had to work that much harder to keep both Guilmon and himself safe. Another yawn and a rumble from his stomach as he tried to rub the tiredness from his eyes, did have him sheepishly admitting to himself that some food and a very caffeinated soda probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, as he stepped through the door and saw both his partners chatting as they waited for him.

“Hey guys, you didn’t have to wait up,” Jaune greeted with as much energy as he could muster, as he joined the two and they began making their way to lunch.

“It’s no trouble,” Pyrrha assured him, with her ever present polite smile. “What did he need you for anyway? Is everything alright?”

“Hm? Yeah, I’m good,” Jaune said as he shrugged off her concerns. “Oobleck needed to talk to me about some stuff about me and Guilmon.”

“Me too?” Guilmon, questioned. “What’s going on?” 

“Apparently we have some work to do,” Jaune said as he looked down to his reptilian teammate. “The Doc wants us to meet with him at half past three for stuff to do with the DHI, looks like we have some work to do.”

“Ahhh,I didn’t realize we were starting already to be honest,” Guilmon said as he nodded in understanding. “Did he say what he would have us doing?”

“Nope, said he’d explain more this evening.” Jaune explained as he shook his head. “For now we just go to the rest of our classes like normal.”

“Excuse me, but what exactly is going on?” Jaune turned back to his right and saw Pyrrha looking back and forth between him and Guilmon obviously confused at their conversation. 

“Oh, sorry Pyrrha,” Jaune apologized quickly, as he rubbed the back of his head. “So you know how me and Guilmon are here on scholarship right?”

“Yes,” Pyrrha confirmed, “Professor Goodwitch said you were part of a new program for the huntsman academies.”

“Yup, the Digital Huntsman Initiative.” Jaune smiled in Pyrrha’s direction as he began to explain in earnest. “They want to start training digimon, especially bonded teams like me and Guilmon, to be huntsmen. We get free tuition and a stipend for certain resources like gear, weapon maintenance, and food but in exchange we have to do work for the academy and kingdom involving digimon.”

Pyrrha frowned as understanding dawned from his explanation, “At the same time as your regular classes and training? That seems like a bit much don’t you think?”

Huh, he honestly wasn’t expecting that reaction, but it was nice to see that she cared about him as her partner. “I don’t think so, after all it’s really hard to argue with a full tuition waiver,” Jaune did his best to reassure her as Pyrrha continued to look unconvinced. “Plus they’ve been putting time into the two of us for years now. If it wasn’t for Guilmon and the DHI I probably wouldn’t be here right now.” 

Oh hell, that got him a look from both of his partners. Jaune might have chosen his words poorly there. Pyrrha seemed ready to speak up but Guilmon beat her to it, “I really don’t like it when you talk about yourself that way Jaune. You’ve put in just as much work to make it here as anyone else.”

“I appreciate that buddy but you know what Mom and Dad are like,” Jaune argued back. “There’s no way I would’ve even been allowed to go to combat school if it wasn’t for Ozpin and Oobleck wearing them down.” Plus it was kinda true, he wasn’t really talented the way Guilmon was and that paled in comparison to the sheer skill Pyrrha Nikos displayed, he needed to work harder.

“Wait,” Pyrrha asked, confusion once again coloring her tone. “Your parents didn’t want to let you become a huntsman?”

“It’s kind of a long story to be honest,” Jaune deflected, “save it for another time? Besides, I'm here now. Anyway back to the original subject, me and Guilmon gotta go meet up with Oobleck for work after classes are done for the day.” Jaune did his best to change the subject away from his currently strained relationship with his parents. Mom would calm down about it over time and Dad was willing to respect his decision even if he didn’t really support it, that was enough right? Jaune just couldn’t tell them how he got hurt in the forest or what almost happened to Guilmon.

“Do the rest of us in team JNPR need to attend as well?” Pyrrha questioned as she matched pace with Jaune, hands clasped behind her back.

“Only if you want to,” Jaune answered. “I’ll let Ren and Nora know about it as well, but for you guys it’s optional.”

“Very well,” Pyrrha nodded, “if that is the case I believe I will join tonight as well, and Jaune if you ever need help with studying or your training you know I’d be willing to help right?”

Jaune just blinked not expecting the offer presented, still though that was really nice of her and he could honestly use all the help he could get. But he refused to be a burden on anyone.He would improve, he had to improve, but he wouldn’t be a drain on anyone’s time or resources to do it.. “Thanks Pyrrha, I’ll probably take you up on that.” Jaune lied as he kept a smile on his face that fought the pit in his stomach. “You’re a great partner, you know that?” That part at least was completely true.

Huh, Pyrrha was looking kinda red across the cheeks now, Jaune hoped she wasn’t getting sick. Still she seemed pretty happy about something so maybe she just really liked compliments? It’d be something to keep in mind, for now might as well leave it alone.

With that the three settled into small talk, chatting about little things like class and hobbies and a dozen other things that were unimportant as they made their way into the cafeteria.

\--HoH--

Entering the cafeteria Jaune scanned the room trying to see if he could find who he was looking for. There was the other half of his team sitting and eating with team RWBY, Nora in particular talking animatedly with Ruby and Yang about something or other while Ren and the others enjoyed the relative silence of at least not having to talk. But where was his cousin? The Doc said she should be here. Jaune made to take a quick walk around the cafeteria to see if he could find her, when he heard the current bane of his existence speak up.

“Hey whaddya know? They’re actually real!” The familiar voice of Cardin sounded out, mocking laughter following the comment.

“Please stop!” An equally familiar voice sounded out, bringing Jaune to a cold stop.

…… Jaune turned to the sound and saw Cardin Winchester grabbing his cousin Velvet’s ears and pulling on them. Pyrrha, noticing the display if not his relation to the victim made her feelings on the subject known, “Disgusting,” she sneered. Jaune on the other hand walked straight up to the asshole in question and with a quick burst of semblance enhanced strength, grabbed hold of Cardin’s ear and jerked backwards with enough force to let Cardin know that he could either follow the ear or let Jaune take it..

“Ow! What the hell!?” Cardin yelped as he let go of the rabbit faunus’ ear. The bully quickly leaned back to keep the appendage from being ripped off as he stood and did his best to turn and see who had hold of him, and his murderous look turned confused to see Jaune staring at him with a thunderous expression.

“Arc!? What do you think you’re doing?” Cardin roared, as he managed to free himself from Jaune’s grip.

“Just testing to see if your ears were real as well,” Jaune answered flippantly as he shrugged. “That is what we’re doing right now isn’t it?”

“You sticking up for this animal Arc? Or are you hoping that if you white knight for her she’ll put out?” Cardin asked with a sneer on his face as he gestured back to Velvet who started gagging at the implication.

“That’s disgusting!” Jaune shouted back in the bully’s face, just, just ew. “She’s my cousin you asshole, and even if she wasn’t it wouldn’t matter you’re just being a dick!”

Cardin jerked back in surprise and glanced towards Velvet before a smug smile worked its way across his face. “Heh, makes sense why you spend so much time brownnosing the professors then Arc. Couldn’t measure up to a real man so you had to ride the coattails of your pet to get in here.”

“Keep talking Cardin,” Jaune challenged as he squared his jaw. “I’ll be perfectly happy to make you eat those words come combat class.”

Cardin just scoffed in response, “Come on guys, let’s leave Ozpin’s little diversity hire and his pet monster to their ruffage. We’ve got better things to do anyway.”

Jaune just sighed as the bullies left and the tension bled out of his body. As he watched them leave he was met with a slap to the back of his head, not enough to hurt just to let him know someone was unhappy with him. Turning he looked down to see a brown haired rabbit girl glaring up at him.

“I had that under control Jaune,” Velvet growled in annoyance. “If you had just left them alone they would’ve gotten bored and wandered off anyway.” Just looking at her Jaune could tell she wasn’t happy with him and was about to let him know just how much. Why did he have to be the only one she was actually assertive with? Anyone else and she would just fold in on herself and ride it out.

Jaune just smiled and did what he did best, blatantly tried to change the subject and prayed it distracted the person he wanted it to. “It’s good to see you too Velvet, how’s Uncle Rex doing? Also where’s your team at? I still haven’t met any of them.”

“I’m serious Jaune,” Velvet ground with an annoyed look on her face. Crap, she saw through his clever plan. “You didn’t need to bring that attention to yourself. You’re human, or at least you look human, use it.”

All Jaune could do was groan in response, he really didn’t want to hear this again. His mom and five of his sisters had either rabbit ears, legs, eyes, or teeth and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. “Look Velvet it doesn’t matter,” Jaune tried to reassure her. “That guy already hated me anyway, now do you wanna introduce me to your team or would you rather come meet my team and friends who are right over there and DOING A TERRIBLE JOB OF NOT STARING.”

Jaune turned and threw a pointed look at the table his friends were seated at as he loudly spoke the last part. Ruby and Pyrrha at least had the decency to look bashful at getting caught, Nora and Yang just grinned back, Weiss just scowled before going back to her meal, Ren and Guilmon actually weren’t staring, and his black haired corner buddy, who he learned was named Blake thanks to Ruby, just looked at him and Velvet oddly, weird. 

Velvet just snorted in response as she looked across the room at their audience. “I think I’m good, plus I need to meet up with my team leader in a little bit. I was honestly on my way out when those jackasses happened.” She quickly explained as she looked up at Jaune’s face.

Reaching out Velvet did give him a quick hug at least before leaving. “I did miss you though idiot, and dad’s doing just fine, you should head down into Vale soon to say hi. I think he’ll be happy to see you.”

Jaune smiled and laughed a bit in response as he reached up to ruffle Velvet’s hair, “Will do Vel, soon as I get a chance. I do wanna meet your team sometime though. I can tell them all about the lucky Velvet’s foot incident.” Jaune snarked down at her before he preemptively pulled back from the expected hit as she started trying to punch him in the side, letting loose a final retort of, “Doofus,” before walking off.

“Love you too!” Jaune shouted after the retreating form of his cousin before going to grab food and joining his friends at the table. “So!” He opened politely as he tried to ignore the stares. “How are all of your days going?”

“Not bad,” Yang shot back with a smile. “But I don’t know if I can match up. After all, I didn’t just go save the maiden fair from the villain.” Yang grinned and waggled her eyebrows as she said it.

“That’s still my cousin Yang. Please for just like five minutes while I eat please, be less gross,” Jaune begged as he groaned into his sandwich.

Miracle of miracles Yang stopped snarking for a moment as her joking demeanor slowly changed to a look of curiosity. “Wait really?” She asked with a clear note of surprise. “How did that happen?”

“Well Yang,” Jaune shot back, with a clear note of dry sarcasm in his voice. “When a mommy and a daddy love each other VEEEERRRRYYYY much,” Jaune began as he tried to continue his meal.

Yang’s eyes flashed red in irritation for half a second as she threw a chip at him in response. “You know what I meant dork, what’s the deal?”

Jaune sighed as he stared down into his plate and eyed his sandwich, so much for lunch. “Well I can give you the official story according to mom if you want?”

“Sure why not?” Yang shrugged with an easy smile as she got what she wanted. “Color me curious vomit-boy, or should it be rabbit-boy now?”

“I’d really like it if you didn’t call me either to be honest,” Jaune grimaced at both of the nicknames as he chewed a carrot…… the realization hit him as just as Yang’s grin grew even wider. ‘ _ Please no.’ _

“Eh, dunno rabbit boy,” Yang drew out the nickname slowly just to irritate him, he knew it. Curse older sisters and their ability to figure out exactly how to get under someone’s skin. “I think they’re both pretty catchy, maybe I’ll trade them out every so often. Now stop stalling Arc it’s story time.”

“Alright fine,” Jaune sighed in acceptance as he put his food down and rested his chin in his hand as he looked at the rest of the table. “Okay, so once upon a time a young huntsman named Blanc Arc, who had more muscles than sense, was clearing a Grimm attack near a battlefield from the faunus war. While he was there he came across a very grumpy bunny by the name of Rex who had been injured in the battle and left for dead. Now the young huntsman couldn’t just leave the bunny there to become Grimm food, so he brought the bunny with him and made sure he was properly healed up. After that the bunny decided to return home to his family, at least for a while, and brought the young huntsman with him. While there he met the grumpy rabbit’s sister and the two hit it off. About a year later and the young huntsman and younger sister got married and lived happily ever after.”

“Wait that’s it? What happened after that?” Nora questioned incredulously as the rest of the table turned and looked at her. “What? We all knew he was part faunus but he never actually talks about it; he just has photos of his family on his nightstand.”

“I mean to be fair you never asked,” Jaune shot back with a smug smile. “And to answer your question after that, the two decided to embrace the rabbit stereotype and had eight children, the rest is history.” Jaune took a moment mid explanation to swat at Guilmon’s hand as the digimon reached for his sandwich, “Hands off, anyway I’m more surprised you guys didn’t already know,” he said gesturing at team RWBY, “after all Ruby already knew from hanging out in our room.”

Ruby wilted under the sudden attention and questioning looks from her team as she folded in on herself and drew into her cloak before responding, “ I didn’t think it mattered,” she stuttered nervously, “I mean Jaune is Jaune right?”

“That’s a good attitude sis,” Yang agreed, “but I’m more worried about you going over to some boy’s room without giving me the heads up.” Jaune watched as Yang’s eyes widened and she gave off a mock gasp. “Is my little sister finally growing up!?” Yang asked with mock outrage and excitement.

“Yaaang stop it!” Ruby flailed her arms at her sister as she blushed. “Plus it’s not some boy, it’s Jaune and Guilmon. Jaune is like my dorky best friend and Guilmon likes making weapons too.”

“Oof not even seen as a man, that’s rough vomit boy.” Yang snarked as she fended off her sister’s waving arms.

“It’s cool,” Guilmon jumped in with a sly look on his face, “this is about what he was used to back home too.”

“Alas, betrayed by my brother in arms and the sister of my dearest friend. How will I possibly recover?” Jaune deadpanned in the most sarcastic voice he could manage while giving both Yang and Guilmon the stinkeye.

The teasing from the two continued on for the rest of the lunch period to Jaune and Ruby’s mutual frustration.

\--HoH--

The end of the school day found team JGNPR standing inside of Dr. Oobleck’s office. It was a scene of chaotic disarray, yet there must have been some method to the madness because the overly caffeinated Professor zoomed around the room. Going to grab specific items from seemingly random places never actually having to look for what he wanted. Turning from the sound of their entry he addressed the team, “I see all of you have chosen to join your leader here today!” Oobleck cheered in his usual rapid fire manner. “Splendid, splendid! This level of team solidarity this early on is a good sign!” 

“I appreciate the compliment Doc,” Jaune responded as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “But what exactly do you need us for today? Is it more tests?”

“Partly Mr. Arc, but there is actual work to be done as well!” Oobleck said as he came to one of his sudden stops staring at the team as he took a loooooong pull from his coffee. “Tell me children, how would you all like to go visit the digital world?”

Silence reigned in the room as the team of future huntsmen and huntresses stared at the doctor with dumbfounded expressions. The silence only broken by Nora’s exclamation of, “WHAAAAAAAAT!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter as we kick off the Jaundiced Arc. Not much to say right now so instead I'll just say I hope you're all having a wonderful day and don't forget to love each other! Take care!


	4. Chapter 4

_ You see at the time our biggest issue was the digital rifts. The rifts being places where the barrier between our world and the digital world weakened enough for the two to temporarily overlap each other. In these places the area would gain the properties of both the digital world and Remnant at the same time, the bleedover would bring with it items and flora from the digital world as well as digimon themselves.  _

_ Indeed the rifts were the primary vehicle for digimon crossing over to our world at the time. Some just stumbling through and others intentionally making the journey. This would for a very long time be the primary method for digimon to immigrate to our world, those who chose to remain simply refused to cross back over to the digital world when the rifts destabilized and the barrier reasserted itself.  _

_ The problem with this is that the location and duration of the rifts was quite random and those trapped inside when they formed, say in the middle of a village or a city, would be trapped until the rift ended on its own and much like humans not all digimon coming through were benevolent by any means never mind any wild ones trapped in the rifts themselves and lashing out while scared.  _

_ It was by pure happenstance that we discovered that digivice holders were capable of passing through rifts when they were already formed and even bringing passengers with them as long as they made physical contact. A young tamer in Vacuo passed through the border of a rift that had opened around his caravan before going back in and bringing out the members of his caravan two or three at a time. This discovery became the driving force that finally gave genuine traction to the DHI with the idea that huntsmen students being sent on supervised missions into the digital rifts could help protect citizens in the kingdoms evacuating them and reducing any damage that a malevolent or feral digimon would cause. _

_ Excerpt from “A Digital Destiny” _

_ By Bartholomew Oobleck. _

  
  


“WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?” Nora’s voice rang out in surprise at the bomb the doctor had just dropped. “How!? We can go there!? I thought that was impossible, Ren we have to let Rena know!” 

No, yeah, Jaune was with Nora on that one. Traveling to the digital world was supposed to be impossible, or at least that’s what he had been told. Jaune eyed the professor as Oobleck, for his part, simply sipped his coffee as he waited for Nora’s outburst to end.

“Quite Ms. Valkyrie now if I may continue while true travel from Remnant to the digital world is currently impossible there are pockets where the space between our worlds shrinks, allowing for some crossover.”

“You’re talking about the rifts,” Ren said quietly, more of a statement than a question.

“Quite right Mr. Lie!” Oobleck responded energetically. “And what we have gathered from people who were trapped inside when the rifts formed is that the immediate area around them slowly changed while they were inside. Apparently becoming more like the digital world as time passed from what we can surmise. This phenomenon is what we will be studying in the coming weeks.” Oobleck finished as he took a moment to take another long pull from his thermos… actually how much coffee did he have in there? Jaune had never seen him fill it or manage to empty it.

“But sir, I thought rifts didn’t typically last that long, a day or two at most, would that be long enough for any significant changes to take place? How would we even go inside? The border is impenetrable.” Pyrrha cut in, confusion written across her face.

“That would be correct Ms. Nikos. That is except for a few notable exceptions that I would explain if you would all give me a moment,” Oobleck gently chastised the group with a small smile on his face. “Still though, I only wish you were all this interactive during your actual classes.” Jaune could only sheepishly rub the back of his head at that while Ren and Pyrrha had the presence of mind to look embarrassed, or well as embarrassed as Ren ever looked.

“Now if you are all quite finished,” Oobleck stated with raised eyebrows and a questioning look, apparently waiting to see if anyone else wanted to interrupt. “Very good, I will now explain the details of what we will be working on in the future. While you would generally be correct in your beliefs regarding the rifts Ms. Nikos, there is an anomaly fairly deep inside the Emerald Forest, a large rift some acres across that has been stable for over two years now. We will be going in to study the changes to the local flora and fauna as well as record any effects and changes that may occur from simply passing through the barrier.”

“But professor,” Pyrrha insisted. “You still haven’t actually told us how we’re going to travel through the barrier in the first place.”

“We’ll use the digivice,” Jaune sheepishly responded to his partner’s statement while fishing the object in question out of his pocket. Oh wow it was stuck in there, angle it a bit… there we go! Jaune lifted the same device that he had received all those years ago and showed it to his team. All white and red with a strap and a clip where he really should be attaching it his belt rather than sticking it in his pocket.

“Digi-what?” Questioned Nora as she leaned in for a closer look, curiosity coloring her features. “I honestly thought that was just a fancy pocket watch.”

Jaune could only laugh in response as he blushed at the sudden attention and the proximity of his suddenly very close, very female teammate as he began to explain the functions of the digivice. “Honestly telling time is about the only thing it can’t do it feels like. We’re pretty sure it’s what helps maintain the bond between me and Guilmon, I can use it to keep track of his health, location relative to me, it tells me if any rifts pop up nearby, I’m not sure but I also think it’s what let him digivolve during orientation, and most importantly it lets me pass through the walls of digital rifts.”

Let’s see, was there anything else? “Oh and I can’t lose it! If I forget about it anywhere or someone takes it, it just appears next to me again after a little while.”

“Indeed!” Oobleck sounded off to Jaune’s left in agreement with his explanation. “Now ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who wish to accompany us we will be making our first expedition into the rift this coming Saturday morning meet me at the bullhead docks at ten . Mr. Arc and Mr. Guilmon obviously for yourselves this is not optional. Make sure you are well rested and properly kitted out for an outdoor mission.”

Jaune nodded in affirmation as he stuck his digivice back in his pocket, “Is that everything Dr. Oobleck?”

“Yes feel free to go about your day and enjoy the rest of your week.” Oobleck said as he waved them off. “Although just so you know we will take advantage of the time off campus to try and gather some data on digivolution as well, please keep that in mind. You are all dismissed.”

\--HoH--

Jaune couldn’t sleep. This wasn’t necessarily an uncommon issue for the young man, he had always been a bit of an insomniac, but it had never been this consistent. Every night for the past three weeks ever since- no thinking about his latest screw up wouldn’t help. With a quiet sigh he rolled back his blankets as he got up quietly to avoid waking up the rest of his team, grabbed his books, and made his way to the dormitory’s common room. 

It had quickly become his routine since the start of the semester; wake up, go to class, train, do homework and study, maintain enough of a social life with his friends as he needed to keep them from worrying, and then lay in bed for a couple of hours with thoughts he didn’t want to deal with until he was certain the rest of his team had fallen asleep. After that he would sneak out and get back to work, whether it was unarmed combat in a training room, physical conditioning, or studying, Jaune would continue until he was well and truly exhausted even while using his semblance to stave off tiredness. 

Usually he’d roll back in at about four in the morning and then wake up at about seven o’clock getting him a few hours of sleep. It was rough but he honestly preferred it to the alternative of just laying in bed staring at a dark ceiling for hours on end until he fell asleep with those incessant thoughts that just wouldn’t. Shut. Up.

Besides he needed the extra work and time. Cardin might have been an asshole but he wasn’t wrong Jaune basically was a glorified diversity hire and the only reason he was here was because of Guilmon. Jaune didn’t begrudge his friend this fact, how could he? Guilmon was his brother! He had given Jaune the opportunity to chase his dreams and had been his best friend, sibling, confidant, and protector for over a decade! Plus Guilmon was amazing! A great shot, a great melee combatant, amazingly skilled, and incredibly strong Jaune was proud of his brother.

But it was time for Jaune to stand more solidly on his own and stop relying on his peers. He didn’t have the world renowned skill and talent of his partner Pyrrha, the technique and book knowledge of Ren, brute strength of Nora, or the natural abilities of a digimon. In a team of amazing people Jaune was aggressively average. 

He was an ok student, ok with his sword and shield, and just ok in general. The only things he had going for him were a small talent for grappling and unarmed combat, a certain level of skill with dust manipulation gained through hundreds of hours of practice, and a frankly bullshit semblance that he couldn’t rely on too much unless he wanted to go from an everything proof superstrong badass to aura-less civilian in five minutes or less.

In spite of all this for some idiot reason Ozpin had decided to put him in charge of the team. Him, Jaune Arc, the guy who spent the entire airship ride over trying not to throw up. The least talented guy in his team and greater friend group of extremely talented people. The guy who made a bad call during their first mission that would have lead to the death of his best friend if it weren’t for pure dumb luck. 

He didn’t deserve to lead this team or be in charge, but he would work until he became someone who did. He would put in the hours and the training. He would get better. He would become something other than a disappointment, no matter how many blisters, bruises, or sleepless nights it took. Anything to become the person his friends seemed to think he was.

That wasn’t good, the thoughts were circling again and making it harder for him to focus on his studies. He didn’t need stupid distractions because of his guilt getting in the way of his work. Maybe he was just tired? A quick flash of his semblance for a few seconds had him feeling more alert and his eyelids felt less heavy but still the thoughts flashed through his mind on a loop.

Jaune dropped his pencil and gripped the sides of his head as he groaned in frustration. The entire point of getting up was to do something to distract himself, so why was he now dealing with the same shit in a different room?

Jaune ended up being saved from the neverending spiral of his thoughts by the dull thump of books hitting the table next to him. Looking up Jaune saw the pajama-ed figure of Ruby Rose as she moved to go full a mug with coffee before taking a seat next to him and opening her own book. Neither said anything, though Jaune was tempted. Instead he simply looked to his friend, smiled a little smile, and got back to work. 

If he had seemed to be in particularly bad shape when she walked into the room neither said anything. Just studying in companionable silence only speaking to ask or offer assistance with some subject or another.

\--HoH--

Jaune had disappeared again. Pyrrha felt her heart clench in concern, she had always been a fairly light sleeper and tonight was no exception. At least the night before he had come back fairly quickly even if she wasn’t sure on the reasons why. She didn’t know exactly how often this happened but she had counted at least five times so far since the start of the semester that her partner had simply left in the middle of the night without saying anything. 

She didn’t know what exactly he was doing. It might have been homework or training, it might have been a job or relaxing trying to get past the insomnia, heck it might’ve been a secret girlfriend…… Colors she hoped not.

Still, this couldn’t continue. She may have been the only one woken up by his midnight departures, but they all knew something was up with him. There had been a subtle weariness to Jaune lately, his eyes didn’t light up the same way they used to those first few days, he was involved but always strangely subdued. Ren had been the one to suggest turning off Jaune’s alarm the previous morning with Nora electing to stay and wake him up closer to class time to allow their fearless leader more sleep. 

Guilmon had been the one to insist on not treating Jaune any differently. According to the lizard this wasn’t the first time Jaune had gotten like this, and it usually worked out better if they let Jaune have the time to process it on his own while not treating him differently. 

In spite of this Pyrrha still worried, she wished he would open up to her just a bit, enough to actually talk about what was bothering him instead of bottling it up. The problem was every time she tried asking if everything was alright or if he’d like some assistance he just smiled that usual goofy smile and said he was fine and she didn’t know how to break through that.

Pyrrha turned and quietly groaned into her pillow in frustration, that was the problem wasn’t it? She just didn’t know how to be assertive and she was useless at social situations. Toss her in an arena or against the creatures of Grimm and she was amazing, a force to be reckoned with full of confidence. 

Trying to express concern or affection for her partner who was also her friend and the boy she maybe liked? Stuttering mess too scared to actually say anything beyond vague platitudes. She really wished she was as confident or outgoing as Nora or Yang. Neither of the bombastic girls had issues speaking up or being the center of attention, if she could learn to be just a bit more like them it would certainly help. 

_ ‘…...Actually why can’t I?’ _ The thought caused Pyrrha’s eyes to widen in realization. Why couldn’t she be more like Nora or Yang? She might not be able to manage it on her own but she was friends with both girls, maybe more acquaintances in Yang’s case but the point stood. She could see about getting one or the both of them for a private conversation, and maybe asking for their advice. It certainly couldn’t hurt. She would talk to her friends soon and get their input, maybe after the excursion through the rift on Saturday she could corner Yang and work from there. With this train of thought and a new plan of action firmly in mind Pyrrha turned over and allowed herself to drift back off to sleep. Tomorrow was another day and Pyrrha would seize it.

\--HoH--

People thought Ren didn’t care. It was an assumption that was simultaneously both correct and incorrect. Ren did care, he cared about his friends and the family he had found after losing his first, he cared about his studies and becoming a huntsman. Really he cared about so many things, the problem was he had to be careful about feeling too much or caring too deeply. If he did get too worked up or things did go wrong his semblance would act up on its own dulling any strong emotions he experienced. 

It was an unnerving feeling somewhere between a serene clarity and crushing emptiness, but despite this Ren did feel and did care about everyone. That was why when he woke up Wednesday morning and saw Jaune once again in bed dressed in a different set of clothes than he had worn to sleep the night before, Ren elected to once again turn his alarm off and take his own turn to allow their team leader to sleep in while Nora, Pyrrha, and Guilmon went to go get breakfast.

It wasn’t hard for Ren to guess what had been the inciting incident for Jaune’s shift in mood. He wasn’t sure if it was just that Guilmon’s survival and safety hadn’t sunk in yet or if Jaune was tearing himself up with maybes and could-have-beens but this obviously wasn’t good for their team leader. Ren just wished he could find the right words or think of something to say that would help or get through to Jaune, but unfortunately he had never been good at talking. 

It was too easy to be that little bit misunderstood that would cause everything to go wrong, to be genuine and come off as sarcastic, or to speak honestly and be seen as blunt or coming off rude. It was why he chose to focus more on being quiet and taking the time to listen, to choose his words carefully and only speak when he had something important to say. Even that had its own set of issues but ultimately it was easier to be seen as quiet and stand-offish than letting the wrong word get him in more trouble.

Maybe Ren could ask a Professor for advice? Maybe the school counselor? Did the school have a counselor? …...hmm you’d think that would be one of the things covered during orientation. Instead the headmaster just walked up to say something he thought sounded deep and then threw them into a Grimm infested forest. The professors were all….. unique in different ways as well to be charitable. 

Oobleck was more caffeine than man, Port was too wrapped up in stories and past glories that may or may not have happened to really be helpful, and he didn’t really have a good read on Professors Mulberry and Greene. Although Ms. Greene had seemed fairly welcoming so far she might be a bit too much for a delicate conversation. Maybe he could get in touch with Professor Goodwitch? She was the Deputy Headmistress so if anyone knew who was in charge of student counseling or had good advice it would be her.

Ren was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of the door opening and admitting the taller of his redheaded teammates.

“You’re back early,” Ren whispered with a raised eyebrow as he looked to the shy champion.

“I wasn’t very hungry today,” Pyrrha quietly responded with a small shrug. “I brought him a little something as well so you can go grab breakfast with Nora if you want.”

At a glance Ren saw that indeed Pyrrha did have a small bag with pastries and fruit for their team leader. Still though, “Are you sure? I volunteered to take today’s turn so you and Nora wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Pyrrha smiled gently in response, “I don’t mind, you go on ahead I’ll give him another half an hour and wake him up.”

“Very well, thank you for this then. I will see you in class.” 

With that Ren left the dorm room, and yet while he intended to head to the cafeteria he found his feet carrying him to the administrative building for the campus. Well it couldn't hurt to at least see if Ms. Goodwitch was busy or not he supposed this was important for team stability and performance after all. 

Ren made his way upstairs to the deputy headmistress' office before knocking. After a short pause in which Ren wondered if he had come when no one was here he heard a resigned voice invite him in.

Goodwitch's office was reminiscent of the woman herself. Clean, neat, and austere, there was very little in the way of decorations in the small room beyond her weapon, her diplomas, a small bowl of hard candies, and three small framed pictures on her desk facing her seat. At her gesture for him to get on with it Ren took a seat and began explaining himself. 

"I'm sorry to bother Professor Goodwitch but I was wondering if you could tell me anything about any programs for counseling or mental health on campus." Ren asked as diplomatically as he possibly could.

At that Goodwitch's eyebrow rose, "Is everything alright Mr. Lie? Are you experiencing any issues we should be made aware of?"

"No not myself ma'am,” Ren reassured his superior. “It's just…. you are aware of my team leader yes? Jaune Arc?"

"Yes I am aware of Mr. Arc.” Glynda asked with a small sigh as her eyes glanced towards something under her desk that smelled suspiciously like bacon. “What, pray tell, does he have to do with this visit?"

"We, that is the rest of my team I, don't think he's been quite right since initiation ma'am." 

"I see,” Goodwitch said with what Ren thought might have been a tone of concern bleeding into her stern voice. “And tell me Mr. Lie what has led you to this conclusion? What exactly is wrong?"

“I will say first that I haven’t noticed this all personally but, he… hasn’t been sleeping lately, or at least not sleeping well I think. Pyrrha has woken up a few times in the middle of the night to find him gone. Sometimes his school books will be missing, sometimes it’s his gear.” Ren took a small moment mid-explanation to take a breath and sort his thoughts. 

“We think he’s been trying to sneak in extra training and study time when he’s having trouble sleeping but it’s become a worrying trend. Pyrrha stayed up once when he left to get a feel for how much sleep he gets at night and he came back at four in the morning. Ms. Goodwitch his alarm is set for seven so that he can get in some morning training before breakfast and class.” Ren looked pleadingly at the woman as he explained the situation. Ren finished his explanation, throat dry. It felt odd to talk so much.

“Is this negatively affecting his physical health or grades in any way yet?” Glynda asked with a resigned tone as she looked at Ren over the rim of her glasses.

Ren leaned back at the response, wanting to bite back in frustration before his world became a wash of gray tones and the frustration melted away and disappeared. He knew why he was frustrated and what was wrong but he no longer felt the frustration, all of it bleeding away and leaving him empty. “No ma’am not yet, I know he can use his semblance to enhance his aura. He might be using it to stave off some of them harmful effects but what about his mental health? People need sleep for more reasons than just physical tiredness.”

“You are correct Mr. Lie but you must understand we cannot force Mr. Arc to sit down and speak with us.” Glynda explained to him with a patient tone. “Counseling and therapy only work when the person in question wants them to work, and forcing the issue can make things dramatically worse instead. Unless something happens that causes this pattern of behaviour to obviously negatively affect his schoolwork or health the hands of the faculty are tied in the matter.”

“Is there really nothing that can be done?” Ren pressed, she was in charge for a reason wasn’t she? She had to be able to do  _ something. _

“What have you as a team been doing for him so far Mr. Lie?” Glynda asked him quickly taking Ren by surprise before he answered.

“I’ve been waking up earlier to turn his alarm off before he wakes up, we’ve started trading out on someone staying behind to wake him up ourselves and maybe give him an extra hour or hour and a half of sleep. He hasn’t figured it out yet, he thinks he’s just been sleeping through the alarm.” Ren explained quickly.

“Good, Mr. Lie you should continue doing that, it may not seem like much but small things like that make all the difference.” Glynda graced him with a small smile before continuing. 

“People are complicated and there are no simple fixes but being supportive and just being there can help more than you realize. Mr. Arc may in time choose to come to us for assistance, he may choose to open up to his team, or he may simply need to work through this on his own. Regardless I do appreciate you bringing this to our attention, I will inform his other professors to keep an eye out for anything worrying. Should anything occur I promise we will take action.” 

“I do appreciate how calm and level headed you’ve been throughout all of this Mr. Lie,” Glynda gave him the mother of all ironic complements as she smiled. “It speaks well of your maturity. Now if you don’t mind I have paperwork to handle before class starts and you need to start getting ready as well if you don’t want to be late.”

With that she shooed Ren out the door and as he left with her advice in mind he couldn’t help but chuckle sadly to himself. Calm and level headed huh? That fit him to a tee didn’t it? Whatever, he had done more talking in that five minutes than he had in the past month. He needed something to drink, his throat was killing him.

\--HoH--

It was Thursday and Guilmon had decided that he very much did not care for Cardin Winchester. Ever since the argument in the cafeteria on Monday Cardin had been even meaner to Jaune, pushing him in the halls and saying mean things to him when the teachers weren’t watching. Yeah Guilmon liked to tease Jaune as well but that was different! When he did it the teasing was never serious and Jaune always teased back while smiling, or at least tried to. Sometimes he got tongue tied or just stammered and blushed which meant that Guilmon had won. 

Besides a lot of the pranks and comments from Cardin hadn’t even made sense. Like why would he put rabbit food in Jaune’s locker and what the heck was bestiality and why did he say Papa Arc did it? He knew it had to be bad because only Cardin’s friends laughed at it and everyone else got mad. Apparently he was implying that Mama Arc was an animal? But that didn’t really make any sense either. She obviously wasn’t a rabbit, she just had rabbit ears.

That was one of the things about humans that really didn’t make sense to Guilmon, they got so worked up about really little things. Like they didn’t like other humans because they looked different because they had an extra set of ears or a tail or how fighting was wrong and you should use words to solve problems except for the times when you were supposed to fight and not use words or even just how clothing worked! 

Guilmon walked around naked aside from his goggles all the time and no one acted weird about it but if he saw someone else naked they all started acting weird. Human mating and reproduction was weird anyway, like all the rituals and the mechanics involved with it. He’d taken biology with Jaune at Pharos and that had certainly been eye opening. It just seemed so messy, the digimon method seemed much better. 

One day he would probably die and then to repair the damage all his data would reformat leaving behind an egg that would hatch and either he would come back or someone else would be there to go live their own life or it would be him in a different body, claws crossed for a hawkmon being able to fly would be so cool, but still so much less messy. Even if two digimon in a romantic relationship opted to create a new life there still wasn’t any of this awkward joining of bodies nonsense. The two simply came together and each donated a portion of their data to create an egg that would have the traits of both parents based off of the data they had chosen to donate, much cleaner and with a definite lack of fluids.

Still though he supposed the human method wasn’t so bad if it resulted in so many new interesting humans for him to meet! Hmmm…. maybe he should put work back into finding someone for Jaune. He was obviously too hopeless to manage it on his own and besides he liked that Weiss girl and while she was pretty enough for a human she was kind of prickly. Pyrrha might be the better option there, she had enough sense to see that Jaune was of good quality and seemed really nice besides. 

Plus she had red hair! Guilmon could see it now, a bunch of little Jaunes running around with hair the same color as Guilmon’s scales, calling him Uncle Guilmon, that he could play with and spoil. That might be putting too many eggs in one basket though. Maybe he should put some work into Ruby and Nora as well, they were both equally nice in different ways, both could make Jaune smile even when he was feeling sad, and both shared the proper appreciation for heavy weaponry that could make things go boom. He just needed to find out if Nora was actually mating with Ren or not first. 

Where was he? Oh yeah the humans treating the animal humans bad. That still didn’t make any sense to Guilmon. After all, all the digimon looked really different from each other and they got along just fine. Well except for the virus and vaccine types they didn’t get along sometimes but that was really the only exception and besides he was a virus type and got along with vaccine types just fine! Still though it made Jaune and the other Arcs sad and Cardin was using it to be a dick and Guilmon wasn’t gonna have any of it. Jaune was HIS human Cardin could go find someone else.

Jaune felt bad enough right now and Guilmon felt bad enough about his part in it, he hadn’t meant to scare Jaune like that and anyway he was ok now! He just needed to keep things normal so Jaune would see that he was fine and then Jaune would go back to normal and everything would be normal again! It was a foolproof plan, it had always worked before when Jaune got into his moods or was sad, plus Guilmon knew that Jaune hated being treated differently too.

“Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long to the arena.”

Oh yeah he was in combat class, huh he hadn’t seen Jaune fight Ruby’s sister yet, this might be interesting. Gui watched as the two stepped into the arena as the big monitors above displayed their names and aura levels. After a moment of waiting and Jaune keeping his guard up Yang chose to attack first firing backwards with her gauntlets to send her rocketing forward to try and break through Jaune’s defense. Gardien Rouge held though and Jaune sent a pulse of aura through the dust shard to release a burst of energy from the hardlight dust knocking Yang back a step. Jaune swung forward with his sword trying to capitalize on the opening but it wasn’t as tight or efficient as usual and Yang stepped into it. 

A boxer’s stance and a half step in and she was able to get inside of Jaune’s reach. Reaching out violently Guilmon could see her grab hold of Jaune’s wrist where he had overextended and did something to the joint of his thumb. Maybe a pressure point? Whatever it was she was able to use it to force his hand open and knock the sword out of his grip where it flew to land just outside of the arena. 

That was odd though, Jaune usually wouldn’t make the mistake of overextending himself like that and leaving himself open. He must be off his game a little bit, Yang was good and she was fast but she wasn’t that fast. Still it seemed Jaune was ready to begin his counterattack dropping his shield as well before going into a modified boxer’s stance, hands open and palms facing forward before lashing out. 

He could see Jaune go in swinging with a heavy hook towards Yang’s left side just below the ribcage. Yang quickly took a back step to avoid it, not noticing the foot swinging wide underneath her from the same side as the punch attempting to sweep her legs out from underneath her. Jaune managed to follow through with the movement, knocking Yang’s legs out from under her and sending her tumbling to the ground. 

He followed her down, leading with all his weight on his elbow as he planted himself in her midsection knocking the air from her lungs and carving out a chunk of her aura before moving into a straddle on her midsection to rain heavy blows down on her face and upper body. Jaune got off maybe two shots before Yang’s hair burst into flames and with a surge of strength bucked her hips up in a bridge sending Jaune flying over her head and upper body coming down in a rough tumble. 

Picking himself up quickly and seeing hurricane Yang coming at him with a red eyed vengeance, Jaune lit with a brilliant white light as he activated his own semblance. It came down to a question of time now, would Jaune be able to break through Yang’s aura and semblance before he burned through his own or would she be able to hold on long enough for his semblance to burn through his aura ending the fight. The two traded vicious blows back and forth at a furious pace pummeling each other. There was very little technique here in the face of overwhelming power. 

Yang was an unstoppable spear versus Jaune’s unbreakable shield and at the last moment before Jaune’s aura dropped too low for him to continue, he apparently saw an opening as he ducked low to the ground under Yang’s arm as he swung around behind her and wrapped both arms around her waist. Quickly Jaune lifted her up and over his head before letting his upper body fall in a perfect backbend, slamming Yang head first into the concrete floor in a picture perfect suplex.

“That’s the match! Jaune Arc is the victor via aura depletion,” Goodwitch barked out, before reviewing the performance of the two. “That was a good match from the both of you. Ms. Xiao Long, good work on disarming your opponent early on but don’t forget that just because the enemy chooses to wield a weapon doesn’t mean they’re unskilled in hand to hand combat. Also let this be a lesson not to overly rely on your semblance lest you run across someone else able to get past it. Mr. Arc you need to be better about keeping hold of your weapon and improve the efficiency of the aura use from your semblance. A tool that actively leaves you weaker after the fact is a liability if it cannot finish the fight.”

Guilmon saw Jaune say something as he leaned down to lend Yang a hand up. He couldn’t make out what he said at a distance but Yang smiled and said something in response that left Jaune blushing, hmmmm… might need to add another to the list of potential mates for Jaune later.

“Can I have Cardin Winchester and Guilmon Arc come to the arena?”

Oh this was going to be just the most wonderful day wasn’t it? The two walked up to the arena and Guilmon waited as Cardin readied his heavy mace. 

“Hmph, it shouldn't be too hard to handle Jauney boy’s pet monster. Tell me are you actually some program or are you secretly a domesticated Grimm?” Cardin taunted with a sneer on his face as he flourished his weapon.

“Neither,” Guilmon growled as he settled into a combat stance readying his claws. De-Rezz was a bad fit for a small enclosed arena like this and so he chose to forgo it relying on his natural abilities. Guilmon watched as Cardin’s smile grew cocky at seeing him unarmed before running in and going for a massive overhead swing of his mace thinking it an easy victory. 

This was a notion Guilmon very quickly proved incorrect when he met the swing with a rockbreaker strike that met the heavy mace head on, throwing it backwards and knocking Cardin off balance as he had to account for the weapon. A low, powerful swing of Guilmon’s tail knocked Cardin onto his back as Guilmon leaped on top of him and rained down pyrospheres point blank into the larger boy’s torso. One, two, three blasts and the match was over. 

Still though Cardin had been mean to his human and Guilmon just couldn’t let that stand. Before stepping off of his opponent’s chest Guilmon leaned in close to Cardin’s ear where the bully’s head rested on the ground and left him with a simple message for clarification. “I’m the huntsman who just kicked your ass.”

Really, thought Guilmon, sometimes the day just worked out perfectly on its own.

\--HoH--

“Nora come on,” She heard Jaune moan pitifully behind her. “I need to get back to work and make sure I have my homework ready for stealth and security.”

“No way fearless leader!” Nora retorted with her trademark manic grin spread across her face and only fifteen percent played up as she pulled Jaune towards the bullhead docks. “It’s Friday! Even with Oobleck’s field trip tomorrow we have all weekend to work on homework, and you’ve been working way too hard all week. Don’t you know all work and no play makes Jauney a dull boy and Nora a sad girl? You wouldn’t want to make me sad would you?” Nora blinked up at him with big eyes and a deep pout that was obviously fake.

With a smile Nora could see and hear hidden behind his long suffering groan Jaune nodded, “Alright, alright you win.”

“Thought you would see it my way, now come on Mr. Muscles we need to meet Ruby at the bullhead docks!” Nora cheered as she jumped on his back, arms around his shoulders and legs cinched around his waist.

“What!? Nora, hey!?” Jaune shouted back at Nora as he staggered back and forth from the sudden addition of one valkyrie to his back as Nora felt her smile pull wider. It was good to be able to spend time with Jaune. Plus kudos to him it was a very nice back, she could tell.

Nora leaned with Jaune bringing him back to balance before pointing his way towards the docks. “Silence trusty steed! We need to make our way to the docks where the fair maiden awaits! Onward Cornelius the second!”

“What happened to Cornelius the first?” Jaune asked as he grunted and wrapped his arms under Nora’s legs like stirrups before setting off.

“Unimportant!” He would be remembered, her faithful ursine steed. Seriously though, how were Grimm rodeos for huntsmen not a thing? Nora would definitely pay top dollar to see that.

With a grumbling Jaune underneath her the two made their way to the docks. Too easy, Nora smiled to herself as she held onto her trusty steed. Jaune needed the break, something for him to focus on other than training and studies for a few hours and a night down in Vale with two lovely ladies would be just what the doctor ordered. She’d taken wake up duty twice so far, one had been shared by Ren and Pyrrha and the other had been Guilmon and it seemed it was helping at least a little bit. 

He didn’t seem quite as rundown as he had at the start of the week but still he could use a little more work, Nora could tell. She’d have to put some more thought into other plans to help later, but for now this gambit should work out in her favor. A night on the town with one of his best friends and his beautiful teammate, get Jaune away from school and homework to do some shopping and hang out, grab a nice dinner with the three of them, and then come back up to the dorms for movies and videogames until everyone falls asleep. It was a plan all based around making Jaune relax and have fun, meaning it was a perfect plan! Plus Renny was making the secret weapon, rich dense brownies with milk guaranteed to lead to a full stomach and a sleepy, happy Jaune. Truly, her genius knew no bounds, she needed to make sure to use this power only for good.

“Hey guys!” At the sound of the familiar voice, Nora moved her head to rest on Jaune’s shoulder to catch sight of Ruby Rose in her usual dress waving excitedly at them from next to the bullhead.

“Quick Cornelius I see ahead of us the maiden fair!” Nora quipped as she wrapped her legs tighter around Jaune’s waist as she pointed in the red reaper’s direction. “We must make our egress to the castle town!”

“Wait. I’m the fair maiden?” Ruby questioned up at Nora as she blinked confusedly.

“Of course!” Nora said as she continued the act. “You are impressively fair skinned, and I the beautiful queen of the castle come mounted upon her most trusted knight to escort you to the village below!”

Nora snickered to herself as she saw Jaune’s ears turn a bright cherry red, if only she could see his blush properly right now. “Nora,” he coughed politely, “I think there might be a few issues with your phrasing for that last sentence.”

“I know what I said!” Nora thundered in faux anger, as her smile widened in delight at watching the blush spread to the back of his neck. “Now no more back talk Cornelius, onward!”

A quick trip that found Nora rubbing a green behind the gills Jaune on the back to feel better during the flight found the trio making small talk as they walked their way through the city.

“So how’ve things been going with your team Ruby? Is Weiss still giving you trouble?” Jaune asked as he balanced Nora who was busy preening as through a combination of skill and luck, she had once again managed to take her rightful spot on her leader’s back.

“Pfft, nahhhh we’re totally besties now. Team RWBY is a lean, mean, fighting machine! The best team in Beacon!” Ruby cheered as she pumped a fist in the air.

“Ha! Show’s what you know,” Nora shot back, aiming a competitive grin at the younger huntress. “Everyone knows that JGNPR is the best team in beacon!”

“No way, it’s totally Team RWBY!” Ruby argued as she glared up at Nora who was left unphased due to her superior positioning via the high ground. “We’re the butt kicking-est huntresses around!”

“Didn’t my fearless leader here beat your team’s strongest fighter during combat class yesterday?” Nora grinned smugly as she delivered the coup de gras of her argument.

“...Touche,” Ruby conceded. “You win this round Queen Juniper but the RWBY Empire will win the war.” Ruby shot back as the two of them descended into giggles. 

“If the Queen and the Empress are done discussing politics can either of you tell me where we’re going?” Jaune snarked at the two as he pinched Nora’s thigh causing her to squawk in surprise.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that Jaune,” Ruby apologized, while Nora did her best to noogie the disobedience out of her usually trusty steed. “It’s a bookstore called Tukson’s Book Trade, Blake recommended it to me. It should be another two blocks down and then one block over from where we are right now.”

“Corner buddy recommended it?” Jaune asked surprised as he was somehow ignoring Nora’s righteous vengeance…. oh he was using his semblance to ignore the noogie wasn’t he? She would remember this. “Cool, where are we headed after that?” Jaune continued as he unfairly ignored the pouting, beautiful girl draped over his back.

“There's a dust shop here in town that I’m on good terms with,” Ruby continued as she giggled up at whatever the look on Nora’s face currently was. It felt like something between surprised indignation and a pout but Nora couldn’t be too sure, she couldn’t see her own face after all. “I was gonna load up on some extra ice dust for Crescent Rose and I think he actually still has some hardlight dust in stock as well, dunno if any of it is crystal though. I figured you guys could both load up too.”

“Awesome,” Nora piped up, ignoring the way she had been foiled moments before. “I’ve been thinking of picking up some lightning dust to modify Magnhild with.”

“Ooooohhhh,” Ruby’s eyes actually started sparkling. Huh, Nora had never seen that before. “What did you have in mind? Can I help?”

“I was thinking of adding a taser function to Magnhild’s handle so I could electrify it.”

“Ok so like the butt of the handle so you can still hit people with the back end?” Ruby clarified as she apparently started planning designs in her head. Seriously it was like Nora could see the thought bubble forming over her head.

“No, I was thinking of just having the whole thing electrified, only problem is I don’t want it to set off my grenades early.”

“But wouldn’t the hammer shock you too then?” Ruby asked in confusion as she stopped and stared up at Nora.

“Yeah, that’s the point…” Nora stared back, not breaking eye contact.

The conversation lulled at that point as Nora stared at an increasingly confused Ruby. Jaune, the spoilsport he was, came to the red reaper’s rescue as he explained Nora’s reasoning.

“It’s for her semblance Ruby,” He explained helpfully, the traitor. “Nora’s is a bit like Yang’s except she can eat electricity to make herself stronger.”

“Ohhhh that’s cool! So like a back up battery for just in case?”

“You would be correct in your assumption Empress Ruby,” Nora answered the reaper. “I will thank my trusty steed not to give out JNPR’s national secrets unnecessarily.”

“I sincerely apologize,” Jaune laughed as Nora ineffectually tried to kick at him without falling from her perch. Give it time, she’d get him back. “So what are you guys looking to pick up at the bookstore?”

“Well I need to catch up on the last couple of issues of X-Ray and Vav and I was gonna see if they had any new weapon magazines.” Ruby spoke up first as she led the turn around the corner towards the bookstore.

“I’m gonna see if they have the newest issue of the Mogar solo run and I wanted to see if they have any new books from a couple of fantasy series I follow.” Nora responded. “You fearless leader? What are you thinking about grabbing?”

“Honestly just X-Ray and Vav, same as Ruby, well that and I might see if the new stormlight book is out yet. I didn’t even know they were doing a solo series about Mogar. Is it any good?”

“Oh it’s great! So basically the idea is after he turned on the Mad King he left the city to become an unlicensed huntsman in the wilds.” Nora explained as she crossed her arms and rested them on his head.

“Ok, that sounds pretty cool.” She heard Jaune acknowledge beneath her. “I might need to pick up an issue or two.”

“It’s cool, you can just borrow mine for now to see if you like it.” Nora assured him as she smiled. “I have most of the run so far,I keep them in a box under my bed.”

“Awesome, thanks Nora,” Jaune smiled as he turned his head to try and address her directly.

“No worries Jauney, after all I need to keep my trusty steed happy and well looked after,” Nora laughed as the trio reached the bookstore in question and made their way inside. The small talk and laughter continuing as they perused the small shop.

\--HoH--

Saturday morning found Jaune at the bullhead docks a bit earlier than his teammates. He felt amazing, it was the first full night’s sleep he’d gotten in over a week and he had definitely needed it. Between his inability to sleep and Cardin being Cardin the stress had been starting to get to him but despite his protesting otherwise the night out had been just what Jaune had needed, Nora was definitely good people. 

Jaune blushed a bit as his orange haired teammate came to mind. He’d been the shortstack’s “trusty steed” for the entire evening and as a side effect he now had a full understanding of the girl’s… assets between feeling them against his back and needing to grab hold of her thighs to hold onto her for the piggyback ride. Still though confusing thoughts about his energetic teammate were for later, now it was time for exploration and studying wild digi-things. Just as soon as the rest of his team got here… and the Doc.... Oh shit what time was it? Seeing nine AM as he checked his scroll Jaune sighed as he went to find a place to sit, the hour would pass soon enough.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost forgot to update today lol. Sorry sorry. Luckily AO3 allows me to do mobile uploads.

**I own nothing but myself, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. But seriously I don’t own RWBY or Digimon, enjoy the chapter guys**

  
  


Sweat beaded Jaune’s brow as he grunted in exertion. This was quite possibly the most grueling battle he had ever gone through. Was... was he going to die here?

“Mr. Arc! Are you alright back there!?”

Jaune was unable to answer Dr. Oobleck’s query. Jaune was unable to do anything but hold on as long as he could. A wretched whimper escaping was the only response he could offer.

“He’s not looking great doctor!” Jaune wasn’t sure who had shouted, the voice had sounded feminine. Was it Nora? Pyrrha? Jaune couldn’t tell. All Jaune could do was curse himself for taking advantage of the extra hour to have a hearty breakfast.

“Hey someone pass that kid a trash can or something! I’m not flying around in a bullhead covered in puke!” At the pilot’s urging Jaune felt a waist high cylinder being forced into his hands and even with the invitingly empty vessel in front of him Jaune held on for dear life. Truly, motion sickness was the greatest of enemies.

He could feel a small hand rubbing between his shoulders as he kept his lips sealed. Deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the nose. He REALLY didn’t want to throw up in the middle of this tin can. Honestly, he really didn’t want to throw up in general. The only thing worse than feeling like you needed to throw up, was the sensation of actually doing it. Plus if he tossed his cookies now they’d all be stuck with the smell, he’d have the taste in his mouth, an empty stomach, and he would STILL feel like he needed to throw up.

So instead Jaune did the heroic thing for the sake of his friends. He held on, he persevered, it could’ve been five minutes or it could’ve been five years, time had lost all meaning, until finally he felt the bullhead settle as they touched down. No sooner had the doors opened than Jaune launched himself out of the machine and got his feet on good solid ground. 

“Sweet, glorious land!” Jaune praised as he took in great gulps of air and let his stomach settle.

“I- Guilmon are his reactions to travel always that… pronounced?” He could hear Pyrrha ask behind him as the others made to exit the flying death machine.

“Kinda,” Guilmon responded as he made a so-so motion with his claw. “His motion sickness is usually pretty manageable, but he’s especially bad with flying. You should’ve seen him on the shuttle on the way to Beacon, he hadn’t even eaten anything that time.”

Jaune ignored the blatantly untrue conversation occuring behind him to survey the clearing they had landed in. It seemed to have been prepared and maintained ahead of time rather than natural with tree stumps dotting the clearing. The forest itself was different from the area where they had held initiation. The trees were taller and the forest itself seemed darker, more closed in and suffocating, with sunlight unable to penetrate the canopy outside the clearing. 

Jaune jumped and flinched back as he felt an elbow dig into his side. “Hey Mr. Muscles you wanna come help with getting Oobleck’s gear out of the bullhead?” Jaune looked down and saw Nora smiling up at him with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as she gave him a pointed look, before pointing back at the rest of their team currently unloading crates and boxes from the vehicle.

Oops, “Heh, my bad Nora,” Jaune apologized, rubbing the back of his head, as he moved to join the rest of their team in the work.

“You’re forgiven oh fearless leader,” Nora teased before giving him a slight look of concern. “You are feeling okay though right?”

“Me? Yeah I’m fine,” Jaune assured her. “The motion sickness almost always wears off immediately after we touch the ground. Come on, let’s go finish up before Ren decides to give us a lecture.”

Heavy crates and boxes marked fragile with the telltale sound of glass tinkling exchanged hands as they traveled from the bullhead to a designated area on the ground. The team worked efficiently to unload everything as Oobleck supervised.

Once everything was gathered in a neat and orderly pile Oobleck waved to the pilot who proceeded to take off and begin heading towards the safety of the academy while the group did their work.

“Dr. Oobleck what is all of this stuff?” Nora asked the question that had been on all of their minds as they were unloading it.

“These Ms. Valkyrie are our tools for data collection today. We have specimen containers for any unique flora and fauna we encounter on the other side by request of Professor Peach as well as heartratemonitors, thermalcameras, aurameters,dustreactivitykits,regularcameras, andmyemergencysupplyofcoffee.” 

Oobleck’s talking speed increased as the explanation continued, the twitchy man dutifully explaining everything without breath until stopping, not to breath, but to take a long slow pull from his coffee thermos. It would have been eerie if Jaune hadn’t been used to it, the man went from a twitchy mass of energy to standing stock still. He could’ve been confused with a particularly lifelike statue if not for the gulping motions his throat made as he drank his coffee.

Wait what was that first thing he said? “Doc, why would we need heart rate monitors and aura meters?”

Jaune saw Oobleck turn to look at him with an eyebrow raised still drinking his coffee. And stared. And stared. Okay now it was getting uncomfortable. Finally though the excitable academic finished with his caffeine and opted to answer Jaune’s question. “Because Mr. Arc as I said before we will not only be entering the rift today but also studying digivolution. What incites it? Can Mr. Guilmon learn to do it at will? Must you be near each other to trigger it? Is it only in moments of great danger that you can trigger it? Important questions Mr. Arc! Questions we will do our best to answer today.”

“Okay,” Jaune nodded in understanding. “How are we going to get Guilmon to digivolve though?” 

“Simple Mr. Arc! We will simulate the circumstance of the first time it occured by subjecting you both to mortal danger.”

“Come again?” Guilmon asked. 

“Indeed Mr. Guilmon, your teammates and I will engage you and Mr. Arc in full contact sparring with intent to harm until you both can no longer continue or you digivolve. That however is a matter for later. For now we should engage in our original reason for coming here. To the rift!”

“Heh, sure thing Doc,” Jaune nervously rubbed the back of his head as he turned to his teammates, seeing Nora with a predatory grin, Pyrrha smiling apologetically, and Ren standing stone faced. Huh, hard to get a read on that guy. Like he was a good guy for sure, just hard to tell what he’s thinking.

/////\\\\\\\\\

Nora followed her team as they made their way into the forest following after their Professor. The air was close and stifling, an oppressive feeling loomed over them under the gloomy shade of the trees which allowed no sunshine to the forest floor. The air was pervasive with the smell of old rotting vegetation and other things which had gathered under foot. 

Nora definitely didn’t care for it. This didn’t feel like the same forest they had their initiation in. It had still felt old then but that was different. During initiation the forest was still bright, it was infested with Grimm yes but there were obvious signs of habitation once upon a time. The forest felt… welcoming in a way back then. Like if you had what it took and were willing to venture in you could find amazing things.

This was different, this part of the Emerald Forest felt almost primal. It was like nothing lived out this way and nothing aside from animals ever had. It didn’t feel welcoming or challenging, it felt like it didn’t care or notice they were there, and if anything happened to them no one would ever know. 

Nora wasn’t scared of course. Nora didn’t get scared after all, not since she was younger before she had met Ren, her best friend and constant companion. He was all the family she had ever had, well until now at least. Still, Nora gripped the handle of Magnhild just a little tighter to help bleed off some of the tension that had worked its way into her body. Something was off and she couldn’t tell what it was. Something was missing that should be here but what was it? Wait. “Dr. Oobleck, where are all the Grimm?”

“You will find there are very few Grimm this far away from the kingdoms and settlements, Ms. Valkyrie.” Oobleck replied as he blazed the trail ahead of them, his coffee thermos converted into a torch to light their way. Wait did that mean he actually kept fire dust with his coffee? Or did he mix the two of them together? Actually if his semblance worked like hers that might not be a bad idea. Maybe she could see about keeping a flask or battery or something on hand with lightning dust in it for a top off. Wait what were they talking about it again? Oh yeah Professor Oobleck was explaining things.

“-and for that reason Ms. Valkyrie the creatures of Grimm tend to congregate within a certain range of human settlements or places historically home to large amounts of negativity. Places like this that are both distant from the kingdom and home to no humans see very little in the way of Grimm activity.”

“That is interesting doctor, but if that’s the case why don’t more of the remote villages survive longer?” Ren had asked that, it made sense that he would. That day had been bad for both of them, the smell of smoke and sound of a blood curdling screech reverberated through Nora’s mind still, over a decade later. But the circumstances were different, for the terrible day that it was for Kuroyuri it was still a turning point in Nora’s life for the better. She had found Ren, or well he had found her and together they had survived, excelled even, to become hunters. Some people they had met hadn’t been so lucky. Ren though, he had lost everything that day. Home, family, and his smile, the one she had seen him wear from a distance. Now there was a sort of sadness in him burying even more anger. Anger that she wasn’t entirely sure she could do anything about.

“Oh! My dad explained this one to me,” Jaune had cut in. Her new friend and team leader was excitable and friendly but his eyes had that same sadness as Ren’s. It was different in a way though, Ren’s sadness hid an anger that burned bright sometimes before his semblance pulled it away. Jaune’s sadness ran deeper and all she could find beside that was a tiredness that he hid behind easy smiles and friendly jokes. He was interesting in his own way, and curse her mama bear nature but she couldn’t help wanting to keep an eye out for him. After all, who else was she gonna read comics with?

“So because of that they have to be really careful about killing all the Grimm at the area they start at and along the way to give themselves more time but even then Grimm can still smell the negativity from humans from pretty far off and people will still travel to and from the village bringing Grimm with them.” Looks like Jaune-Jaune had finished his explanation, she really needed to get better about paying attention.

“Quite right Mr. Arc, the term smell might be a bit misleading since that implies the Grimm have a sense of smell but that was an adequate explanation.” Oobleck nodded in agreement before coming to a stop. “Students, we have arrived at our destination. Ms. Nikos if you could retrieve the thermal cameras from your pack it would be greatly appreciated.”

“Yes doctor, just a moment,” as her final human teammate began to dig through the packs to find the twitchy academic’s equipment Nora leaned forward to see about getting a better look at the rift.

It was… odd, you couldn’t actually tell anything was there just looking at it. As she stared though she began to notice things, a haze in the air with a rainbow iridescence to it. As she tried to touch the wall of the rift she noticed she couldn’t touch anything at all really. There was no sensation from it. She had expected an invisible wall or something, but instead it was as if her body just refused to go past a certain point. There was nothing to lean on and it didn’t feel like she was touching anything or exerting any pressure, she just couldn’t move forward. This might require further testing in the name of the Kingdom of Juniper.

Let’s see, let’s see… ah! There were a few rocks on the ground. Nora palmed one before giving it a gentle underhand toss towards the rift. Ok good arc to it, heh “Arc”, aaand it just dropped in a gentle fall like she hadn’t thrown it hard enough, huh. “Hey guys, come take a look at this.”

“What is it Nora?” Ren called back to her.

“Just come here and take a look, all of you.”

As the currently unoccupied members of her team came to see what the fuss was about, Nora palmed another stone before rearing back and pitching it forward with all of her strength. The effect was ultimately the same, the stone made a natural arc before falling down just at the edge of the rift. It didn’t drop down like it had hit something it just came to a rest like she had thrown it much more gently. 

“Huh, ok that is weird,” she heard Jaune remark behind her.

“Right!? It’s kinda cool, let’s all try and see if anything changes.” With that she pressed a stone into Jaune, Guilmon, and Ren’s hands. Each of them threw it in a slightly different way, Ren’s side toss with a flick of his wrist, Jaune’s fastpitch, and Guilmon's underhanded throw yet all of them got the same result. A natural path for the stone’s flight that dropped off as if they were gently tossed and rolled to a stop at the edge of the rift.

“That’s interesting,” Nora pondered as she inspected the small pile of stones that had formed at the rift’s edge.

“Indeed it is Ms. Valkyrie, Ms. Nikos and I were also able to obtain good preliminary data from your impromptu experiment with the thermal cameras.”

“Experiment is a bit much isn’t it doctor? I was just throwing rocks and playing with the wall of the rift to see what would happen.” Nora very pointedly did not blush or get confused by the praise, blushing was for people who were not as awesome as Nora Valkyrie.

“Ms. Valkyrie, what do you suppose experiments are? Someone gets curious about something and decides to try it out and see what happens. Remember young lady the only real difference between the scientific process and screwing around is if you remember to take notes. Maintain that curiosity my dear, it will serve you well in the future, whether as a huntress or if you desire to follow a path similar to mine.” Nora was gobsmacked by the praise from the older huntsman. She genuinely was not expecting that, usually when she did stuff people reacted by saying no, stop, don’t, and “why is that on fire?” this was the first time someone had complimented her curiosity.

“You guys hear that!? I’m gonna be a science huntress!” Nora crowed at the others, chest puffed out and nose in the air.

“Indeed Ms. Valkyrie, I expect to see your coursework reflect this new acumen of yours.”

Aw, hell, “Yes sir,” Nora groused.

“Now then!” Oobleck called for their attention. “If we are all ready I would request that each of you place a hand on either Mr. Arc or Mr. Guilmon. It’s time for one small step children.”

/////\\\\\\\\\

Jaune hated the sensation of passing into the rifts. He had only experienced it a couple times before and the sensation had not grown more pleasant with time. The experience was odd, kind of like vertigo yet much stronger than he had ever experienced in any other circumstance. When walking in there was a feeling of wrongness, that he should turn around and walk back where he came from but he was able to push past it. It wanted him to stop and turn around instead of going forward and if he wasn’t careful it would change his course, setting him on a path that would instead take him around the side and then continuing on away from the rift.

Jaune grit his teeth and pushed back against that feeling and continued stepping forward, and then they were through. The other side of the rift was… different to what he had been expecting.

“Doc,” Jaune called back as he took in the sight before him. “What time was it exactly when we went into the rift?”

“Approximately thirty minutes past noon Mr. Arc why do you ask- oh.” Oobleck trailed off as he took in the scene before him.

The forest was still dark but it was not the claustrophobic oppressive darkness previous. The forest had opened up, it almost seemed peaceful and inviting with a bright night sky above them full of stars twinkling in nearly every color of the rainbow. 

Curious about their new surroundings, Jaune pulled out a flashlight from his pack to get a better look at the clearing they were in. The trees in the forest all had a pale almost whitish bark and leaves colored a dark shade of blue. The grass was still green and grew in patches across the ground rather than the consistent coverage of the forest floor outside.

It really was beautiful in it’s own way, it felt eerie as well. Things were similar yet different. The blue leaves and multicolored stars were only the start. Random patches of ground had metal embedded that almost looked like circuit boards but much larger than normal, but more than that there was a sense of something being just a little bit off. Like it didn’t look quite real or that things had a different texture here than they did on the rest of Remnant, it was uncanny. It left Jaune tensed and just a little bit unnerved by the experience. He would probably get used to it in time but for now he laid a hand on Gardien Rouge’s hilt for comfort as he looked around.

“So this is where I’m from?” Those six quiet words brought Jaune’s musings to a screeching halt. To him this place was odd and unsettling, to Guilmon this was his homeland. It might actually be home.

“Yeah, yeah it is buddy,” Jaune responded quietly as he stepped next to the dino-dragon. “Or at least really close to it. How does it feel to be here?”

Guilmon had an odd look on his face, one that Jaune couldn’t quite make sense of. “I... I’m not sure…” Jaune watched nervously as Guilmon drifted off into silence once again. 

“Jaune?” Guilmon spoke again hesitantly.

“Yeah buddy? What do you need?” Jaune offered back doing his level best to support his friend in what must be a time of great need and confusion.

“Why are all the trees connected by power lines?” Of the different questions he could’ve received Jaune was not expecting that. Looking at Guilmon, Jaune saw his friend’s face twisted in actual confusion and surprise as he looked up into the branches and yeah there they were all connected by actual power lines.

“Huh. I honestly don’t know buddy that’s… kinda really weird.” Jaune moved closer to the tree to get a better view. As he reached out to try and touch the power lines his attention was pulled down by a flickering light just below his eye level. 

A pale flickering screen filled with static appeared on the trunk of the tree. As Jaune continued to focus on it the static cleared and the image resolved. It was him opening his acceptance letter from Beacon Academy. A flicker and then the image changed, it was his team standing on the stage at Beacon, he had just been announced leader. All the memories shown so far had been from his point of view.

“Guys! You’re gonna wanna come see this!” Jaune called the rest of the group over to view his discovery as the image changed again. Huh, what was special about this memory it was just him walking down a sidewalk? Which exact memory it was, became clear when a small gloved hand reached into his field of vision pointing over his shoulder. ‘ _ Oh,’ _ Jaune blushed at the realization.

“What is it Jaune?” Jaune heard Ren call behind him as he continued to watch the tree flicker through his memories. 

“Hey Ren, take a look. It looks like it’s playing my memories like a movie.” Jaune gestured to the screen trunk as this time it showed the moment he held and used Gardien Rouge for the first time.

“That’s… interesting… do you know how or why?” Ren questioned as he leaned in closer to a tree of his own.

“Not a clue,” Jaune watched as an image formed on the tree near Ren. A smiling woman with kind eyes looking down at him. “Is that your mom?”

“Yes, yes it is,” Ren murmured as his eyes watered, before Jaune saw his face slip back into taciturn stillness.

“She’s very pretty.”

“Yes... she was.” Jaune turned to his teammate in concern at the implications of the statement, but before he could say anything he was cut off by their accompanying professor.

“Mr. Arc, I believe you should step back from there. We have no idea what these trees are or if they cause any harmful effects.” Oobleck called to him across the field, a tone of concern edging its way into his voice.

“Huh? Yeah sure Doc, no worries. It’s just like TV right?” Jaune didn’t see the big deal. It was harmless, just a glorified video diary. It would be embarrassing at worst but it wouldn’t actually harm him right? 

Jaune leaned back from the tree but the images didn’t stop flickering by. His tenth birthday, the first time he won a sparring match, the moment he tripped over a big black and red egg in the forest. Other trees were starting to light up in the clearing as he tried to scan the area. Behind Oobleck he saw a sunrise with a steaming mug of coffee. To the right he saw another morning scene, this one with a younger Ren cooking pancakes with a slight smile on his face. ‘ _ That must be one of Nora’s.’  _ Further behind that he saw a man with horse ears and kind eyes smile as he said something… something… congratulatory? That was the best Jaune could guess at least, this was still pretty cool though.

As he stumbled back more and more trees continued to light up in the clearing. He saw himself at eight years old from another’s eyes as he awkwardly tried to pluck at a guitar while someone he could only assume was Guilmon seemed to be laughing. ‘ _ I remember that, I sucked so much at the start but he seemed to enjoy my playing anyway.’ _ A championship trophy placed into hands too small to be his own. A smiling Nora hanging upside down as she reached out to touch his nose. A set of too small, too dirty hands digging desperately through garbage before finding a loaf of moldy bread and clutching it to his chest. What?

It wasn’t just good memories? But- that- whose memory was that? Jaune spun looking at his teammates, head spinning as blood pounded behind his eyes, before catching sight of Nora her head twisted in shame before her eyes widened as she looked past him at something. Jaune swung around and saw a memory of watery eyes and Guilmon unconscious on a gurney next to him. He saw large, scary, gloved hands pull a needle out of his arm. As the memory faded he saw a scalpel and a far too large needed pulled out before the screen faded to black. Oh, oh that, yeah. That had happened. It had sucked too. Jaune blinked in embarrassed tears as he looked to his other teammates finding both Nora and Oobleck staring in shock and guilt respectively before Jaune’s attention was torn away again by another memory.

A collapsing tunnel with people on the other side, things covered by white sheets on the ground.

A stern man’s bearded face softens into a smile.

That same man lying broken and bloody on the ground.

A small gloved hand wrapped around the pristine handle of a warhammer.

Grimm swarmed all around he moved to hide underneath a house as people died.

Guilmon being swallowed by a horde of Grimm.

A little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes staring up at him.

A smiling young man and a room dedicated to Pyrrha Nikos. Her face covered the walls, the ceiling, even the pillows.

The images, the memories, there were too many. They cycled through too fast there was too much going on. Jaune felt sick to his stomach and he wasn’t sure why. He could hear his own pulse pounding behind his ears as his vision started to fade to black. He caught a glimpse of one last memory as he fell, walking down the sidewalk again from when he was with Nora. He could see the back of his own head, his ears flushed with a blush.  _ ‘That’s weird, why would I see myself in my own memory?’ _

////\\\\\\\

Pyrrha’s head was pounding. Honestly it had been ever since they walked through the barrier into the rift but the pain was more pronounced now. Her eyes opened to a dark clearing, she was tied up, and moving shapes could be seen through the trees just beyond the edge of the clearing.

She winced as she sat up arms still bound behind her, what was going on? Someone was shouting? Talking?

“Why are we even entertaining this!? The humans come here uninvited and unprepared! Even with one of our own with them they act clueless!” It was a strong voice that called out. It was deep and would have even sounded heroic were it not colored by frustration and anger.

“One cannot prepare for that which they have no foreknowledge Courage.” A smaller higher pitched voice reasoned. “It says well of them that while they have some protection they come equipped for understanding, not violence.”

“I agree with Knowledge,” a deep bassy voice rumbled out. “It would be wrong not to consider new arrivals fairly at the least before jumping to conclusions. We followed your plan to subdue them Courage, now let us build bridges. They might help us find the one we search for.”

“I wouldn’t mind helping if you could tell us who you were searching for.” Pyrrha’s eyes widened at the familiar voice of her team leader before doing her best to turn around to face him. The sudden movement disagreed with her greatly, her headache turning from a dull throb to a sharp spike as she felt a sensation like static build up in the back of her head. She tried to summon her power, use her semblance to call Milo and Akouo to her side but she couldn’t gather up the focus to do so. Every time she tried another stab of pain flooded her brain.

“Why should we trust you human? It’s your fault things are as they are. You and the rest of your kind.” It was the hot tempered one again, Courage.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about sir, honest. We just came here to learn more about the digital world. We’re more than willing to get out of your hair and stay that way.” As Jaune did his best to reason Pyrrha could feel the others rouse themselves behind her. Pyrrha shook her head, mind groggy, she should help, she could say… something? It was so hard to focus. Hard to even form thoughts.

Movement caught her eye, something at the end of the clearing that she faced. A hulking figure with gold eyes that glowed gently in the darkness stared back at her. She tried to sit up properly to face the one who had taken an interest in her but the pain doubled itself again and Pyrrha fell back. A sound escaped her lips somewhere between a sob and a shuddering gasp.

Voices were raised, she could hear shouting but couldn’t make out the words. Was someone saying her name? All that existed was the pain blossoming forward from the back of her skull, it threatened to overtake everything. She could hear someone screaming, the pain in her throat told her it was her.

The feeling continued for what felt like an eternity as all Pyrrha could do was cry, scream, and beg for a release as she curled up on the ground. The gold eyes continued to stare down into her own and even then she lost sight of them as her entire body clenched to endure. And then as sudden as if it had never happened in the first place the pain was gone.

[connection established_]

“STOP!”

The voice that rang out was strong, resolute, but it did not sound unkind. As Pyrrha rose back to a kneeling position she turned and saw what her dilemma had caused. Jaune and Oobleck faced off against a draconic human with blue scales wearing flame patterned armor. Nora was currently grappling a great beast large enough for even three of the team members to ride colored in blues, blacks, and yellows with a body crackling in electricity. Ren had his pistols drawn and was facing off against a small creature, Guilmon by his side. It had the same reptilian face as the others but covered in armor that looked like a honey bee. Actually, all of them looked like they were wearing armor.

As the fighting stilled more of them stepped into the clearing. A beast larger and more powerfully built than the electric one with steel colored armor on its face and great blue tusks jutting from its mouth. A warrior wielding swords and armor made of wood, its face covered by a mask. An aquatic being that swum lazily through the air it’s upper half covered in something that appeared like blue armored scuba gear and its bottom half a shark tail.

The final two that entered the clearing were different from the others. The first of the two flew down into the clearing and was massive, dwarfing all others there by a wide margin, a great dragon heavenly in appearance, covered in white raiments, and possessing great fluffy white wings on its back. The eighth and final member of the party walked in after the others. He was large, larger than all others aside from the white dragon. Dressed in armor of black and red with a golden horn on his head, he carried a greatbow in one hand, and walked on four legs like some kind of draconic centaur. He was the one with golden eyes.

He stepped towards her eagerly as Pyrrha leaned back away from the bowmon. Oddly enough she didn’t feel afraid of him or any of the others there but caution was still warranted in the situation. What she didn’t expect was for him to stop in front of her and dig the tip of his bow into the ground to lean on it like an old man would his walking stick.

“It’s so wonderful to meet you! What’s your name? Oh, oh, pardon me let me take those bindings off of you I’m so sorry! We’ve waited so long for you to arrive.”

“I… uhhhh,” her hands now freed, Pyrrha reached across herself and rubbed her arm awkwardly. This REALLY wasn’t what she had been expecting, but at the same time she trusted this being. Something in the way he carried himself, in the sound of his voice, simultaneously both old and youthful at once, he reminded her of Coach Chiron.

Taking an offered hand from the mon she took a moment to brush the dirt off her skirt. “My name is Pyrrha Nikos.”

“Nikos, Nikos…,” The creature repeated her name as if it was tasting it or getting an understanding of how it felt to say. “I am Hope!” It greeted her in turn.

“Hope? Your name is hope?” Pyrrha questioned uncertainly. She could see the rest of JGNPR staring warily at the interaction. None of them seemed eager to step back into combat now that they were outnumbered and her own condition had improved.

“Yes! Well yes and no. Hope is what you may call me because Hope is what I am!” The digimon said, giving her the least helpful explanation ever. Of all time.

“Hope is what you are?” Pyrrha asked as she stared at “Hope” confusedly.

“Yes! Yes! Now you begin to understand! Or you will! I am Hope, just like he is Courage, he is Friendship, he is Reliability, he is Knowledge, he is Love, he is Sincerity, and my dear friend here is Light!” Hope had gestured to each of his compatriots in turn as he explained the warrior, the lightning beast, the submariner, the bee, the tusked beast, the swordsman, and the dragon respectively.

“Why, why do you say that you were waiting for me?”

“Because we were! You are the Nikos! The daughter of Victory! Victory is what we are aligned to. It is not what we are in this form but it is still part of our very data!” The (Pyrrha was fairly certain) crazy digimon explained cheerfully. 

“It’s a name Hope,” the warrior named Courage growled. “It doesn’t mean anything, humans give them to each other all the time you know this. Give it a few years, she’ll probably come back calling herself something completely different.”

“Ahhh look again, look again my friend. While you were arguing with our guests I saw!” Hope gestured back to her and Courage leaned in close to examine her before his red eyes widened.

“She’s!?” The flame patterned warrior was cut off by Hope before he could finish what he was saying.

“Not yet my friend, give her her own time to understand.” Hope explained, voice kind and laced with relief. “Besides I can feel it, she has a touch of Destiny about her.”

Pyrrha’s eyes narrowed at the mention of that word but was interrupted by the small insect creature before she could question the bowman. “Destiny is not our domain Hope! We are the remnants of Miracles, it is not our place!” The bee buzzed nervously at this revelation.

“Yes but why is that cause for worry friend? Is this not the reason we began this undertaking? New powers, new avenues to save them, save us! This- no SHE is exactly what we were looking for when we came here. The time is now brothers.”

“DON’T TALK ABOUT ME LIKE I’M NOT HERE!” Pyrrha’s shout echoed through the clearing before she gasped in shock at losing her temper and curled in on herself.

“Hmmm… she does carry fire within her. I may be convinced to approve.” Courage snarked off to the side at her outburst.

“Enough Courage,” Hope warned. “Tell me, daughter of Victory, what is it you wish to know?”

“I… what is the place? Why are you all focused on me? Who are all of you? What was that pain!?” Pyrrha was nearly hyperventilating by the end. The situation was quickly becoming too much. She flinched and looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder to see Jaune standing there wearing a concerned smile while two sets of arms wrapped around her waist courtesy of Nora and Guilmon while Ren stood protectively nearby.

“You have good friends daughter of Victory,” Hope smiled. “Come, come sit, I will answer your questions as much as I am able.”

The group followed Pyrrha’s lead and sat before the young, old mon in a semicircle as he hunkered down to begin explaining.

“This place, humans, is the Mementos Grove. It is a place that gathers and stores memories of significance so that they may not be lost. We are some of those memories. Memories of things that were, things that may be, and things that may have been somewhere, somewhen else.” Hope drew in on himself at this, suddenly losing his youthfulness and expressing a sense of age beyond what Pyrrha felt she could really understand.

“As to why we are focused on you daughter of Victory it is because you are our Destined. Just as your friend the Knight has partnered to the Dragon so too will Victory partner with Victory. It is time now, time passes differently in the grove and we have waited eons for your arrival dear girl.”

“Wait!” Pyrrha begged. “You still haven’t explained what that pain was, I still don’t understand what’s going on!”

Hope looked to her again, the smile returning to his eyes. “No, no I haven’t,” he teased playfully. “I cannot give you all the answers after all. Some things you have to discover for yourself. I can tell you this though Pyrrha Nikos. It will be an honor to meet you for the first time.”

As he spoke those final words the assorted digimon began to unravel, for lack of a better term. They each pulled apart into long strips of data and code as that began to pool together between Pyrrha and Hope. The data coalesced as more and more poured in, taking the shape of a glowing egg. Yet the features of the egg constantly shifted. Sometimes built of bronze with bat wings, sometimes patterned in flame with a great metal blade jutting from it. As she watched him fade Pyrrha felt Hope grasp her hands gently lifting them to cradle the still forming egg. 

“Don’t worry so much Pyrrha. I don’t know much, but what I do know is that you’re going to be amazing. Trust yourself, trust your friends, and don’t forget to always have a little Hope.” The great digimon joked as the last of him pulled apart to join the egg in her hands.

It was shifting faster now, cycling through a dozen forms each second and glowing bright, too bright to look at properly. The light became blinding and she felt something crack and shift in her arms as she tried to blink the spots out of her eyes. When she could see again she found a small creature in her arms, blue and somehow holding the traits of both a cat and a lizard with soft peach fuzz fur and a white face and underbelly. A digivice like Jaune’s was grasped tightly in her hand.

The grove faded around them, the digital world breaking from Remnant. Where once there had been a beautiful starlit grove now there was once again the dense primeval trees of the Emerald Forest. Looking down again she stared at her new companion not sure what to do and at a loss for words. Then its eyes opened.

“Hiya! I’m Demiveemon! It’s really nice to meet you!” The tiny digimon cheered. Oh Brothers it was so cute!

  
  
  


**Author’s Notes:**

**Hey guys, thanks for reading. Sorry my update for this week is a few days late. Things have been crazy lately between work, job hunting, and a couple things in my personal life. I hope you’ve all been having a great week and that you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Just a heads up I will still try to have something out next week but my work schedule really isn’t slowing down any right now. Just a word of warning. If I do post something it will likely be another snippet for “Lazy Days in the Beacon Dorms” since my discord group is holding another event. If you like Lancaster and fluffy fun go give it a read sometime it’s usually what I work on in between chapters of this to give me a bit of a break from the more serious tones of HoH.**

**That’s about it for the AN this week. Don’t really have a lot to say beyond I hope you all have a great day and don’t forget to love each other. Til next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I own nothing, Enjoy!**

  
  
  


The trip back to Beacon lacked the energy of the trip that brought them to the Emerald Forest. There was an oppressive, awkward silence filling the cabin of the bullhead. No one was really willing to look anyone else in the eye after what had happened. Once they were able to come down from the adrenaline of being tied up by strange beings in a forest and made their way back to relative safety well… they all knew more about each other and had things known about them that were not strictly... comfortable. Jaune would kill for something,  _ anything _ , to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the group.

“Hey what’s that button do? Are you friends with Pyrrha? Why do you have fur on your lip? Is it a caterpillar? How does this thing fly? Can I fly it?”

“Heh, calm down there little guy. Come on, if you sit down I’ll tell you stories about places I’ve flown to, deal?”

“Ok!”

“Are you sure he’s ok up there? I can take him if he’s being a bother.” Pyrrha’s worried voice cut through, sounding much better than she had in the TV forest at least.

“Naw, don’t worry about it kid. I’ve got two at home with even more energy than this guy. He’s juuuust fine.” The pilot assured the champion with a gentle voice.

_ ‘Anything but dealing with that really. No, no, that's not fair.’ _ Jaune sighed to himself as he looked to the floor of the bullhead and ran his hand through his hair. None of this was the little mon’s fault, it was just a bad day unfortunately. Just… what  _ was _ that? His bonding to Guilmon had been nothing like that, he just tripped over an egg, flash of light, and boom red lizard bigger than he was staring down at him. Actually that was weird too. Guilmon had hatched already in the rookie form but this guy was in training and neither was born in the actual baby form because that would make too much sense. At least the pilot had taken a shine to the little mon.

Jaune groaned as he leaned back and rhythmically knocked the back of his head against the wall of the bullhead. There hadn’t been different digimon breaking apart to make the egg and ambiguous prophecy bull about a chosen one. Something had happened to Pyrrha there as well, what had that scream been? Was it something the different digis had done or was it something else? Was she just allergic to the digital world? Was that even a thing? Jaune continued to slowly bang the back of his head against the wall of the airship. Things had taken such a huge turn and he had no idea how to handle it. He needed to do… something, anything. Pyrrha was either the chosen one or partnered to an insane digimon, or used to be insane, or… gah reformatting was complicated!!! Jaune leaned forward his frustration clear as he let his face fall into his hands.

“Hey, you ok there Jaune?” Jaune turned and looked up to see Nora staring at him with a small, shy, embarrassed smile as she sat next to Ren. “Yeah, yeah I’m good Nora. No worries my stomach is under control,” Jaune assured her. She was probably worried he was gonna spray the cabin. Truth was he could barely even feel the movement of the bullhead at the moment with the massive pit in the middle of his stomach. Even if Pyrrha was the larger of his worries Ren and Nora were both a source of worry and embarrassment at the moment.

He had seen things, about all of them, that he definitely shouldn’t have seen. Jaune just hoped Ren and Pyrrha hadn’t seen the memory of the study. It was bad enough that Nora had, and at least the Doc already knew about it. He needed to do something to make it right, that was his job as leader. He just wasn’t sure what that something was supposed to be. Jaune flinched and that pit in his stomach dug itself just a bit deeper at the thought of needing to have those conversations with his team. That was a problem for another day though, he definitely didn’t feel up to talks like that today and he was fairly certain none of the rest of his team were in the mindset for it either. He’d give them a few days to cool down and then maybe he could try and talk to each of them individually.

Yeah, that might actually be for the best. No one seemed like they were in the mood for a campfire chat at the moment. Jaune looked to the rest of his squad and saw Nora glancing awkwardly between the different members of the group looking like she wanted to say something, Pyrrha fretfully trying to look after her new partner, Ren sitting still as a stone with a small frown on his face which was more emotion than Jaune was used to from the young man, and Guilmon was sleeping. Heh, at least his buddy seemed to be alright. Jaune had been worried Guilmon would be more affected by the trip through the rift but the mon seemed none the worse for wear. He’d probably check in on Guilmon anyway, he was his brother after all. Plus it had to have been rough to finally be able to go home only to be pulled back into Remnant, Jaune wanted to make sure he was ok with the situation.

Rounding out the group had been their advisor, and Jaune had honestly been surprised by what he had seen. He realized he shouldn’t have been, Oobleck was not only a prominent archeologist and historian but an active huntsman who had been through things if the comments he had heard from his dad were to be believed. It was just… that was a lot of bodies in the memories. Not all of them had been given sheets to preserve their dignity and there had still been people running through the tunnel chased by Grimm when the entrance had collapsed. Morbid curiosity drove Jaune to ask about it. Fear of the answer and making his mentor uncomfortable held him back.

Realizing that at the moment at least there was nothing to do despite his desire for such Jaune leaned forward elbows on his knees and hands clasped behind his head as he let the rest of the trip back to Beacon pass in the same oppressive, awkward silence.

Eventually the flight was over. The party slowly clambered out and proceeded to help Oobleck and the pilot unload the mostly unused gear so it could be carted back where it came from. That had been another problem, aside from a few samples from the memory trees and some pictures both thermal and normal they hadn’t really been able to do any of the research they had intended to. They’d been knocked out almost immediately, tied up, fought a bunch of digimon in armor, and then just stood around while Pyrrha got monologued at by a crazy digimon. To add to it after all of that craziness Dr. Oobleck had made the fair call to postpone attempts to induce digivolution in Guilmon so just another way in which the day was wasted aside from Pyrrha getting her partner, whom she was currently trying to wrangle as he made to run off onto campus shouting about exploring. Which yeah… there was probably gonna be a lot of paperwork thanks to that wrinkle.

“Children if you could gather up please,” Jaune looked up from where he was placing the last of the cases to see Oobleck gesturing for the team to come join him by the bullhead. “Thanks to unforeseen circumstances our foray for the day will be cut short and I urge you to enjoy the rest of your weekend. If you have any desire to speak on what has happened just know my door is open to you at all times,” a quick break for a sip of coffee, “and if I am busy at that moment trust that I will make time if it is needed. Now Ms. Nikos if you and Mr. Demiveemon would be so kind as to head to the administrative building we will see what we can do to get him instated in the academy and explain to him both his current situation and any options he may take going forward. As to the rest of you while I do encourage you to enjoy your weekend I also urge you to keep up with your studies. Especially you Ms. Valkyrie, I expect excellence going forward that reflects your new goals.”

“Ughhhh really?” Jaune heard Nora groan piteously as he saw her shoulders and head droop from the corner of his eye.

“Indeed Ms. Valkyrie, I expect excellence because excellence is what I know you are capable of. Do not shortchange yourself or refuse to place effort simply because you think you lack the aptitude young lady. The only person you should be afraid of disappointing  _ is _ yourself.”

“Oh. Well uhhh… y-yes Doctor I will!” Jaune could see Nora of all people stammer and blush at the compliment. He had honestly not expected that. To tell the truth it was kinda cute. 

As Pyrrha and her new partner set off to the campus’ main office, Jaune made to join the rest of his team on their walk back to the dorm before he was brought up short. 

“Mr. Arc, a moment of your time if you please.” Jaune turned in confusion to see Oobleck staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. 

“Yeah Doc?” Jaune asked as he nervously grasped his hands behind his back. This was it wasn’t it? He was about to get dressed down for being inattentive and sloppy in the field. They were gonna take his command away from him and it was what he deserved. He had messed up, he needed to do better, he needed to look out for his team, he needed to be- “Alright Mr. Arc?”

“Uh, pardon me sir?”

“I said are you alright Mr. Arc?” Oobleck repeated himself gently. “What happened out there was kind to no one and it brought up painful memories for all involved. I do admit I feel some small amount of personal guilt for my involvement or lack thereof in some of your more painful memories. I… I am sorry for what you were forced to go through at that age Jaune. If you ever want to talk-”

Jaune had heard enough as he stepped back from his professor and cut him off, “Don’t worry about it Doc, I’m fine now aren’t I? Plus it’s all in the past what’s the point of bringing it up now? I’m gonna go join the rest of my team, you’re gonna get Pyrrha and Demiveemon situated right? We should probably go do those respective things. I’ll see you on Monday ok?” Jaune rambled on as he stepped back and away, turning around to join Ren, Nora, and Guilmon.

“Mr. Arc,” Oobleck called, probably trying to reason with him but Jaune was having none of it. 

“I’ll see you in class Doc!” He called back and waved.

“What was that about?” Ren questioned, as Jaune caught up to the group slipping on a smile with the ease of long practice.

“Hm? Nothing, nothing, just wanted to talk about what happened today and make some plans in regards to next weekend’s assignment. It’s aaaaaall good.” Jaune winced internally as the lie poured out unconvincingly. 

“Jauney?” Jaune turned to his left at the sound of his name seeing Nora staring up at him with a small frown on her face.

“What’s up Nora?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nora asked, staring up at him with pale turquoise eyes. Jaune coughed and turned away as he gave his answer.

“No, not today. I’m sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head as he responded.

“Don’t be, do you wanna go use Magnhild to blow stuff up in the firing range, read comics together, and help Renny cook dinner?”

“By Color you’re amazing.”

“I know!” Nora giggled in response. “Come on, the school just loaded me up on extra grenades and you still haven’t caught up with Mogar yet.”

In spite of his dour mood Jaune found himself smiling as he joined his friends on their walk back into the campus proper.

///HoH\\\\\

Ren wasn’t very good with words.

That was actually a lie. Ren’s command over the common tongue was actually quite advanced; he just didn’t really like talking.

...Exceeept that wasn’t really true either. He didn’t particularly like or dislike talking; he just had trouble picking the right words. The right words to be understood correctly, to not cause a misunderstanding that would cause more trouble than he actually wanted to deal with. After the day they just had Ren had plenty of words come to mind. Very few of them were nice.

The day hadn’t gone quite as bad as it possibly could by virtue of the fact that they were all still breathing, but it had still gone remarkably bad. They had all been caught flat footed and taken down by the enemy immediately after he had the death of his parents thrown in his face. Ren was decidedly unhappy. But he also wasn’t sure what exactly to do about it. The enemy had died and become an ally apparently, his parents were still dead, and raging at his teammates would do no good.

He did wish to speak with Jaune about some of the things he had seen. Maybe now he could make some headway into his friend’s issues now that he had seen that his friend was undeniably still hung up on what had happened during initiation and he had seen other memories as well. A blonde woman with rabbit ears shouting as a man sat behind her and glowered apathetically. He could at least talk with his team about what happened and maybe they could work through things a bit. There was only one problem.

His teammates never shut up. Oh he cared for them dearly, Nora was all the family he had left aside from Rena and Jaune and Guilmon were good people, but Pyrrha was the only one among them who even came close to matching his energy. They were all chatty, talkative, bombastic, he liked to wait and choose his words easily until he had something he felt was actually worth saying. But now he couldn’t fit in a word edgewise if he wanted to. 

At first he thought he might have a chance to bring it up when Nora had asked to talk, but Jaune had shut that down. Apparently he hadn’t wanted to go over it at the moment and Ren could appreciate that but really it was bad to let things linger and bottle them up. He at least would like to offer words of support but he couldn’t think of the right ones to say. Don’t be worried both of your partners are still alright? Hey, sorry you have a bad relationship with your parents but look on the brightside you still have them? ...Why did people and emotions have to be so difficult?

He thought about trying to broach the subject during the pyromania indulgence disguised as target practice but he had been sidetracked by yet another discovery about his leader. Jaune had terrible aim. It honestly boggled the mind, the boy could not fire a gun to save his life… possibly literally.

It had started innocently enough. Nora had lent him Magnhild for a bit and the two had taken turns firing while Ren performed maintenance on Stormflower. He hadn’t been great but grenade launchers were more about taking out an area rather than single targets anyway. Plus Ren knew from experience that firing grenade launchers could be awkward at range if you didn’t know what you were doing and how to account for the arc of the shot. Jaune had actually shown himself to be quite proficient with his aim when dustcasting as well. Whether it was manipulating fire and lightning crystals directly in his hands or channeling hardlight into his sword for a long range slash. The problem came to light when Ren let him borrow Stormflower.

Ren had never seen such a wild spray of bullets from the light machine pistols, even when he was just starting out. The bullets flew every which way except towards the targets as the wall behind them was peppered with fresh bullet marks and not a single mark on any of the targets down range. Not one to leave a potential problem unsolved, Ren attempted to coach Jaune on using the weapons and how to account for the recoil and proper aim. After about an hour of his coaching Jaune had stalled out by being able to get one bullet for every ten fired to land somewhere actually on the target. Then Ren had suggested something simpler and procured one of the practice rifles for Jaune to use. It was a simple bolt action, single shot rifle with a wooden stock and obviously built for precision. So Ren had no idea how things had taken the turn that they did. He just… How had Jaune managed to hit the wall in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION OF WHERE HE HAD FIRED THE BULLET!?

Through some freak happenstance, curse, talent whatever you wanted to call it, Jaune Arc was a worse shot the more accurate the weapon was. Ren had to warn Ruby to never let Jaune borrow Crescent Rose lest he somehow kill them all. At least Guilmon was capable of proper firearm discipline and technique. How the crimson lizard managed to get six perfect consecutive headshots with a minigun Ren wasn’t sure but he wasn’t going to question it either.

That brought them to the present as they sat in the dorm’s common room and his aforementioned friends who just wouldn’t stop talking. Ren had taken his preferred space at the stove to begin preparing dinner for the group and had hoped to broach the subject as they sat and worked on dinner together. But the conversation had taken a turn. At first it had been talk of studying and preparing for class in the coming week, surprisingly it seemed Nora was actually taking Dr. Oobleck’s words to heart. Then it had shifted to their favorite subjects and personal talents in which he found out that Guilmon apparently loved literature and Grimm studies of all things while Jaune had the slightly more expected dust theory and history as his preferred subjects. 

From there the conversation had devolved into an impromptu tutoring session as Jaune coached Nora in manipulating and casting with raw dust as opposed to the powder mechanisms used in their weapons. It was… slow going to say the least. For all her boundless energy, Ren knew Nora lacked patience at the best of times. It was a mark in their leader’s favor though, that his own patience seemed endless where the valkyrie was concerned. As he had slowly talked her through the process of dust casting and explained in as much detail and as many times as was necessary. The smile that graced Nora’s features as a small shard of fire dust began to glow and emit warmth in her hands warmed Ren’s heart as he deftly peeled vegetables and sliced meat.

He wasn’t sure what the current topic of conversation was about though.

“No way Jauney, Waxillium is wayyy cooler. He stopped a whole train! Just by looking at it!” Nora crowed as she made an argument about… something… what was a waxillium?

“Ok, fair point. But can he fly?” Jaune shot back as he smiled smugly.

“Well… kinda… no not really, but he comes really close!” Nora hedged as she circled the metaphorical wagons of her argument.

“Can he manipulate gravity or become much stronger with a weapon that cuts through literally anything?” Jaune pressed his advantage.

Hmm, they must’ve been talking about comic books. That didn’t sound like X-Ray and Vav or Mogar though. Ren made to ask what series they were reading when he felt a tug on his sleeve and turned to see Guilmon staring up at him.

“Can I  _ please _ help you with something instead of dealing with those two? They’re either arguing about dorky nerd stuff or in the middle of some bizarre mating ritual, I’m honestly not sure which.” The dinosaur pleaded as he held Ren’s attention.

Wait, mating ritual? Ren turned and took another look at the other members of their team, closer this time. Nora was as animated as always but it was different this time somehow. She was simultaneously quieter and more energetic at once. She didn’t bounce around from place to place as she normally did, her eyes stayed focused on Jaune and his stayed on her. Huh… Ren hadn’t been expecting that but at the same time he was kind of ok with it. He would keep an eye on things to see how they progressed and if it came down to it he would have a quick talk with Jaune about being a gentleman and exactly how sharp Stormflower was. Might still need to tell Rena about that later though she would want to tease Nora all about a boy she liked.

Ren turned back to Guilmon and nodded his assent, “Of course, I would appreciate the help actually. The new member of our group, Demiveemon, what does a digimon at his stage eat? Can he have solid foods?”

“It should be fine,” Guilmon responded after seemingly taking a moment to think about it. “I’m pretty sure most of us have teeth by the training stage.”

“So what is digivolution like anyway?” Ren asked curiously as the two began to work, descending into small talk. This hadn’t gone to plan, he still hadn’t gotten to talk about what had happened in the forest, but maybe that was ok. For now everyone seemed happy and content and that would be enough for him. Ren felt a small smile grace his face at the sound of happy cheers from the last two members of their group joining them in the common room. Ren held the smile as long as he could and fought the wave of his semblance as it tried to wash out the strong emotions. This was worth holding on to.

///HoH\\\\\

Pyrrha Nikos was not a woman that many would describe as anxious or nervous. Poised, confident, strong, well mannered, these were all common descriptors people used for the crimson haired champion. Well as far as Pyrrha was concerned all those people could go and shut the hell up because she was insanely nervous right now.

It had been a couple of days since the trip into the forest and Pyrrha was honestly feeling good, all things considered. It had hurt terribly at the time and been more than a little bit frightening but overall it had been a net positive, right? She had made a new friend and partner in Demiveemon and if he was a little overexcitable and energetic right now it was only to be expected, right? He was still young. He’d literally just been born two days ago and everything was new and bright to him, she could understand some excitement perfectly. It just made sense,  _ right _ ?

Still Pyrrha stood and fidgeted nervously right outside of team RWBY’s dorm. She was… what? Knocking on their door to ask for advice about boys? Well not just boys but being better around people in general but still this was dumb, she was dumb. She should just head back to her dorm room. Yang likely had better things to do than help her with something so small and Pyrrha really needed to work on homework and keep an eye on Demiveemon and really it was something so small and silly and completely unnecessary to make such a big deal out of and-.

Pyrrha froze, finding herself half turned back towards her own dorm and moving to return to it. She was doing it again, just like she always had ever since  _ him _ . Pyrrha felt something warm and hot rush through her chest, she needed to be better, she needed to move past him, she needed to learn to trust again, she needed to  _ fight _ . For her own sake, no one else’s and dammit if she was good at anything it was fighting. She wouldn’t run from this and she wouldn’t keep running from that piece of Grimmshit Xanthe.

Steeling herself, Pyrrha turned back towards the RWBY dorm and began knocking. 

“Coming!” Pyrrha heard a familiar voice ring out from inside just before the door opened revealing the golden mane of Yang Xiao Long. “Oh, hey P-money, what’s up?”

“H-hello again,” Pyrrha cringed at herself as she smiled and waved awkwardly. “I was wondering if you weren’t too busy would you like to hangout?”

Yang opened her mouth to answer before she was side checked away from the door entirely by a white streak that revealed itself to be Weiss Schnee. “Hello Pyrrha, would it be agreeable for me to come as well? I would be delighted to spend the afternoon with you and my wonderful teammate. We could go shopping and try on outfits, maybe we could get our nails done, and we could talk about cute boys!”

‘ _ Oh colors please no.’ _ “I would be delighted for you to join us as well Weiss.” Pyrrha smiled kindly as she raged internally.  _ ‘Oh damn me to heck! Why didn’t I say no!?’ _

Not about to let herself be discouraged at this point Pyrrha mentally picked herself up and moved forward. “Will any other members of your team be joining us?” Pyrrha asked politely.

“Naw,” Yang responded as she shrugged and moved to put on shoes for their apparent trip into Vale. “Rubes is hanging out with Nora and Guilmon at the forge. Something about upgrading Nora’s hammer and a secret project.”

“What about Blake?” Pyrrha questioned as she curiously looked around the room for any sign of the monochrome huntress.

“Eh she’s somewhere, she kinda tends to wander off and do her own thing most of the time if we’re not in class. I’m not really sure where she goes but one of us will usually get something with seafood or chicken in it for her dinner and set it aside and she’ll come back when she feels like it.” Yang shrugged off her partner’s tendency to vanish as she pulled on a jacket and moved to join Pyrrha in the hallway. “You coming Weiss Cream?”

“Just a moment!” Pyrrha heard Weiss call from somewhere inside the room before she rushed out to join them in her signature white dress.

Thirty minutes, a quick walk, and a chatty Weiss later found the three of them at some boutique or other that had been recommended by both Weiss and Yang. It was a bit different from the kind of places Pyrrha tended to frequent. All of the clothing was so pretty and dainty and made for someone about six inches shorter than her. Someone with soft curves rather than hard muscle. Someone not her. Pyrrha blushed awkwardly as she looked around with one hand rubbing her opposite arm watching the other two browse and look through the different articles of clothing. 

This… really wasn’t what she had in mind when she had suggested hanging out but this was what regular girls did wasn’t it? Angry tears started to prick at the corners of her eyes as she moved to go find something,  _ anything _ , that might actually fit. She had moved through skirts that were too tight to move in and tops that looked silly on her shoulders and arms and was growing more and more frustrated when she felt a hand tap on her shoulder. Whirling she found herself face to face with Yang.

“Everything ok P-money?” Yang asked with an easy smile and what Pyrrha hoped was a spark of concern in her eyes.

“I-I think this may have been a bad idea Yang. I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.” Pyrrha admitted quietly as she looked at the clothes in front of her.

“What do you mean?” Yang asked as a sharp tone of worry entered into her voice. “Was someone rude? Did anyone recognize you? Do I have to break some legs?” Yang asked rapid fire as her eyes started to flash red.

“No!” Pyrrha responded, laughing nervously at the sudden turn in her friend’s attitude as she was shocked out of her general feeling of malaise. “No. Nothing like that,” she waved off Yang’s concerns, “The clothing here is just made for cute or pretty girls and I’m not really either of those.”

“Pyrrha that’s crazy, you’re gorgeous.” Yang was doing her best to reassure her but Pyrrha was having none of it. 

“Yang, look at me and look at these tops,” Pyrrha shot back as she grabbed something appropriately frilly and gauzy and held it up to her torso. “I’m half a foot too tall for most of the clothing here to fit right and if I tried to pull this on over my shoulders and arms all I’d do is tear it.”

"Ok, but Pyrrha that just means you have a different body type than what this shop caters to that doesn't mean you're not pretty." Yang gently tried to reassure her but, but this was exactly the kind of shop that pretty girls, that  _ normal _ girls shopped at wasn't it? Why couldn't Yang understand she didn't belong here at a place like this, with them, she didn't  _ fit _ . 

Pyrrha's humiliation was further compounded when she heard the click-clack of the heels of one Weiss Schnee making their way towards her. "Is everything alright? Pyrrha what's wrong?" 

"Hey Weiss, I'm not sure what's up with Pyrrha but I'm gonna take her to that cafe we passed a few doors back. Can you handle these and meet us there?" Pyrrha saw Yang pull something from her back pocket before she handed it off to Weiss. The frustrated tears came back with a vengeance as a pit opened up in the bottom of her stomach. She was making a scene and ruining the day. She new better than this.

Still Pyrrha let herself be hugged around the shoulders and led out of the shop and down the street. Yang found an outdoor table for each of them and pulled out a seat for her, none of the cocky bluster she usually showed was apparent. Just calm, slightly worried, kindness as she faced the redheaded champion. 

"Do you want to talk about whatever that was back there and why we're really out here today Pyrrha?" Yang questioned gently. 

"N-no," Pyrrha hesitantly denied, "I- I'm sorry I made things awkward I didn't mean to make you leave."

"P-money none of that. Ever. You're my friend too and whatever it was obviously meant something to you." Yang told her, still maintaining that kind tone but in a way that left no room for argument.

"I… how do you do it Yang?" Pyrrha asked a note of wonder in her voice.

"Do what?" Yang shot back, confused, as she leaned back in her chair.

"This. All of this!" Pyrrha waved incredulously at the table between them. "How are you able to calm down a hysterical person, guide them to a cafe and just sit down and actually ask them what's wrong? How are you able to just wander through a store and not be nervous of someone bothering you? Recognizing you? How are you able to do the things we do, especially with how you fight, and still look so pretty?"

Pyrrha watched as Yang was taken aback for a moment as a wave of pink made its way across her cheeks. “Okay P-money, first I’m just gonna say thank you for calling me pretty.” Yang snarked, shocking another bit of muffled laughter from Pyrrha, why did she have to be so good at making her laugh?

“That’s better, a smile fits you much more,” Yang grinned before continuing, “I’m honestly not sure how to answer your questions. Part of it came from having to do it, especially while I was helping to raise Ruby, and part of it just comes from my personality. What I can tell you is don’t ever think that you’re not pretty Pyr. You’re beautiful, you just have a different body type than I do. Plus I leverage my aura more in combat and during physical training, you have a better actual physical base to work with than I do in the end.” 

Yang paused to take a sip of water before continuing. Where had that come from? Was she actually that out of it to not notice the waitress drop off drinks? Still though, “You’re just saying that to make me feel better. You don’t actually mean that.” Pyrrha insisted to the blonde at the other end of the table.

“You calling me a liar P-money?” Yang playfully growled back in response. “If you don’t believe me let’s get a second opinion, YO WEISS!”

“There you are! Is everything ok? What happened? Did something happen to Pyrrha? Do I need to sue someone into nonexistence?” Weiss sputtered as she came back carrying bags with the logo of the boutique they were just at.

“Don’t worry about that, I have a quick question for you first.” Yang waved off the heiress’ concerns. “Do you think Pyrrha is pretty?”

“W-what kind of question is that?” Weiss sputtered, taken aback as she tried to find a spot to put down the bags.

“Don’t worry about it, just answer the question, for Pyrrha’s sake.”

Weiss’ eyes widened as she glanced between the two taking in both the quiet grin on Yang’s face as well as the small, hopeful look Pyrrha did her best to convey. “W-well *ahem* were I attracted to the fairer sex I Weiss Schnee would take Ms. Pyrrha Nikos in a womanly fashion.”

“Because she’s pretty?” Yang pushed.

“Because she’s pretty.”

Pyrrha couldn’t hold it anymore as she stared at the play by play between the two of them and the moment was broken when a definitely not ladylike or dignified snort erupted from her as Pyrrha started deep belly laughing. Whatever emotions she had been bottling up or trying to work through forced their way out in her laughter as tears welled up in her eyes and if a sob found its way out mixed in with the snorts and giggles well, neither of her friends commented.

Eventually the giggle fit ended and Pyrrha found herself facing the two properly again. Yang wearing a wide grin and Weiss just smiling awkwardly at the scene. Poor girl was probably incredibly confused. Surprisingly enough, Pyrrha found herself actually feeling bad about that fact. Maybe Weiss wasn’t so bad after all.

“You *heheheh*, you probably both want explanations don’t you?” Pyrrha asked the two shyly, giggles still breaking through.

Weiss looked like she was about to ask for just that, opening her mouth and raising her hand imperiously when Yang cut her off instead. “Only if you want to P-money, your business is your business. If you wanna tell us we’ll listen and if not we can go back to hanging out.”

“Thank you Yang,” Pyrrha smiled warmly, “But this is the reason why I asked to hang out anyway if neither of you mind?”

With a gesture to continue from Yang and Weiss each Pyrrha began her explanation… story… thing. “I know it’s wrong for me to complain. I have been blessed with natural gifts and a great many opportunities and I have managed to achieve my goals through years of blood, sweat, and tears. But I don’t know how to handle people, I never learned, and in general people don’t want anything to do with me, not really. They want the Invincible Girl. Do you two want to know a secret? I absolutely hate that name. The implication that I’m unbeatable so why try anymore? That I’m more of a commodity than a person. People are either too scared to get close or they hunt me down just to be attached to the Invincible Girl or....” Pyrrha trailed off; she hated this feeling. The feeling of fear and being unable to trust. She didn’t used to be like this and she didn’t  _ want _ to be this way anymore. 

“Because of this, I am… lacking in experience and ability when it comes to dealing with people and social situations. I had hoped by leaving Mistral behind me that I would find more people that either didn’t recognize me or didn’t care about my fame but it… didn’t quite work out the way I wanted it to aside from my team leader at the start.” Pyrrha admitted and winced when she saw the way Weiss flushed red at the comment. Yeah, that had been a thing.

“Ren, Nora, and Guilmon have all been a blessing as well and now there’s all of you in team RWBY and Demiveemon,” Pyrrha plowed through ignoring the questioning whispers of ‘Demiveemon?’ “But I want to keep being better, I want to not be nervous, andIwanttonotbescaredofdatingagain.” Pyrrha squeaked the last part out in a rapid mumble but it had apparently still reached her two confidants.

“Ohhhh…?” Pyrrha could hear Yang draw out the questioning sound as she dropped her face in her hands out of embarrassment. “Who’s the lucky guy or gal? It isn’t Cardin is it?” Yang suddenly questioned as a grimace crossed her face.

“N-no it’s not Cardin.” Pyrrha stammered as she felt her face continue to burn.

“Ok thank goodness,” Yang sighed relieved. “I’m telling you right now, he’s cute enough if you like broad shouldered and brawny but I have no idea how one person’s personality can be so much trash. Worst half of a date I’ve ever been on. So who is it?”

“Yaaang,” Pyrrha protested weakly, “Please?”

“Behave Xiao Long,” Weiss cut in amused. “I don’t think this is the time for teasing.”

“Fiiiine,” Yang groused as she dropped her teasing look.  _ ‘Thank you Weiss’ _ “What has you so nervous about dating then? Have you never gone out before?”

Pyrrha swallowed nervously as she looked between the two.  _ ‘This is what you came here for Nikos.’ _ “I… had a boyfriend for a few months back in Argus, my hometown, his name was Eric Green, he was my age, and oh so sweet. A civilian boy who didn’t particularly like watching the matches and he treated me so well. Then I found out he was four years older than me and lying about it, his real name was Hektor Xanthe, and he was a fan that had been stalking me for some time.” Pyrrha felt her posture crumble as she stared down in shame at the admission, not willing to face Yang or Weiss and see the look on their faces.

“Wow. SCREW THAT ASSHOLE!!” 

Pyrrha looked up blinking in shock at the unexpected shout to see a red faced Weiss Schnee breathing heavy as she seemingly tried to calm herself.

“Simmer down there Weiss Cream,” Yang cut in as she tried to calm her teammate. “I agree with her here though Pyrrha, he didn’t… do anything did he?”

“No..., well almost..., we had ended up back at his place for the first time when I went up to the room and found his… shrine.” Pyrrha winced at the memory, every surface of the room was covered in pictures of her. The ceiling, the walls, even the bed. It was honestly terrifying and the image still left a sick feeling in her stomach. 

The clearing of a throat caught Pyrrha’s attention and she looked to see Yang staring at her with an expression she couldn’t place and eyes that continuously flickered back and forth between lilac and crimson. “Ok so first off I’m with Weiss here, that asshole can go suck creeper tongue. Let him mingle with his own kind. Second I’m proud of you that you’re wanting to get back out there again, he may not have had a chance to do anything but that’s still a huge betrayal of trust and no one would blame you for not being ready yet so this is a huge step on your part. Third, would you like a hug?”

Pyrrha felt her eyes water at the simple offer and nodded not trusting her own voice before Yang walked around the table and pulled her into a warm hug. Pyrrha closed her eyes as she leaned into it, even as she felt a second pair of arms wrap around her from Weiss. She felt… safe. It was nice. Eventually though the hug needed to end and if Pyrrha’s eyes were looking red after it was all said and done neither girl deigned to comment.

Eventually Yang was the first to break the comfortable silence that had fallen on the group, “So, you guys still wanna go shopping? I know a place nearby that carries fashionable wear made with huntresses in mind.” Pyrrha giggled as she saw Yang waggle her eyebrows while playfully gesturing for them to leave.

“That sounds grand. Thank you Yang.” Pyrrha smiled.

“Awesome P-money, I saw a red dress out there last week that would look killer on you. Let’s see if they still have it.” Yang said as she got up and started walking towards the exit.

“You can carry your own bags this time Xiao Long,” Weiss harrumphed with no heat behind it.

“Awww, what’s wrong Weissy? You haven’t had fun? I thought this hangout session was going great! Now come on, let’s kick off this new friendship with a Yang!”

Weiss groaned in exasperation as Pyrrha let loose another giggle-snort.

///HoH\\\\\

Guilmon grunted as he shifted the weight he was carrying, it had been five days since the trip through the rift and Guilmon was still feeling off. It was indescribable, he had gone to his home, the digital world. It was where he was from! And he had hated every single second of it.

Everything felt wrong, alien, the taste of the air, the smell of the grass, the feel of the dirt beneath his feet it was all wrong. Maybe the others couldn’t notice because they didn’t have the same enhanced sense he did. Maybe it was something else. All he knew was if he didn’t have to go back any time soon he’d be much happier for it.

At least Remnant made sense even if humans were confusing. Oops, needed to be more careful he didn’t want to be spilling it all now. Like whoever heard of trees that had power lines running through them and televisions in the trunk. Or circuit boards built into the ground? What was even the point of that!? 

Don’t even get him started on- ohshit! That was uncomfortably close, he’d nearly overbalanced and gone tail over teakettle back down the stairs. Guilmon really wished that the stairs here weren’t quite so steep, it didn’t work well with his leg shape. Where was he? Oh yeah! Don’t even get him started on those frankly very rude digimon in the forest. What was the point of drugging them and tying them up like that? Especially the hot head with the flame colored armor, he was super rude.

They had just come there to check the place out and he was talking like they were some kind of-oh, “Excuse me please.” Guilmon called to the group of students blocking his path. One turned around confused for a moment before looking down and noticing him.

“Oh hey, sorry little guy. You know you need to be a student to be coming through here though right?” The older student, probably a third or fourth year, was not moving to clear Guilmon’s passing even as he adopted an apologetic tone.

With a sigh and a grunt of frustration Guilmon shrugged his goggles over his eyes before using their scroll function to flash his ID to the well meaning roadblock. “I  _ am _ a student here. Freshman Guilmon Arc, partnered to Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, and now Demiveemon.”

The burly student’s eyes widened as he looked down at the credentials. “Well waddaya know? That’s pretty cool little guy, glad to have you with us. Need any help carrying tho-”

“Come on Nara! We got places to be, the debrief for the next mission should be hitting soon. You can play with it later.” Another student called to the now named Nara as he sheepishly stood up and made his way over to join them. 

“It was cool meeting you little guy! Study hard and I’ll see you out in the field someday!” With that the hallway was once again blessedly empty and Guilmon could complete his objective. Still though that one girl had been rude. He wasn’t an it, he was Guilmon. More important things first though.

Guilmon finally made his way up to the balcony overlooking the bushes outside the cafeteria. Very carefully he looked down over the edge and positioned his payload. The VIP would be coming through soon and Guilmon couldn’t let the targets get to her. Carefully Guilmon used his claws and tail to dump the heavy buckets of water over the side of the balcony in unison.

As he heard four almost masculine shrieks drift up to his ears Guilmon allowed himself a smug smile while he quickly and calmly placed the buckets off to the side and headed back into the building and away before Team CRDL could find him. Really he had done them a favor anyway. When he spotted them planning to prank Velvet and had a pair of water balloons each there had been no other course of action. She was his cousin after all so he had to do  _ something _ and if the huge guy in green had been there when they tried it he couldn’t see it working out very well for them. Guilmon wasn’t quite sure what his name was, Yat-something, but he could tell that Velvet’s friend was big enough to literally eat Cardin for breakfast and actually be hungry for seconds.

For now Guilmon was gonna enjoy the rest of his day. There was no digital world right now, just blessed, sensible Remnant and he was gonna enjoy it. Plus Oobleck was wanting to try inducing digivolution again the coming weekend and Guilmon wanted to relax as much as he could before that oncoming nightmare.

///HoH\\\\\

Jaune was feeling better, not great but better than he had been last weekend after the trip to the digital world. Although the hangout session and dinner afterwards had been really nice, and Nora was really cool, and who would’ve figured that both of their favorite book series were by the same author. Still Friday had swung back around and Jaune and Nora had gone on another hangout to kick off the weekend, at this point he was wondering if it would become a weekly tradition.

It was... nice. Nora was really cool, and he honestly did need to take some time to relax and worse come to worst he could always make up the time with extra practice after everyone else went to bed. Just like he was doing tonight.

It was nothing particularly strenuous, he had his assignment for the DHI tomorrow after all, just practicing dust channeling on the roof. Slowly he poured his aura into the bright green plant dust crystal and felt it react. He felt the natural energy of the crystal pulse in time with his aura as he held the energy in place before letting it flow naturally again. Not manifesting properly especially without nearby plant life to affect instead the crystal filled with a warm glow.

Slowly Jaune began his practice of directing and shaping the energy, green light flowing out from the crystal in long tendrils moving through the air like roots through the ground before he gently pulled them back in. The cycle done Jaune poured yet more aura into the dust crystal, the shine going from a dull warmth to a blistering incandescence in his hands as he did his best to wrangle the now much more wild energy of the crystal. Energy poured out in great tendrils as it sought the nearest source of plantlife to accelerate and Jaune marshalled his will as he pulled each escaping tendril back in towards the light of the crystal, a constant, shifting struggle as the light danced away and he guided it back in again and again. 

Jaune finally had it, the energy was wrangled down and held together in a pulsing ball of light wrapping around the crystal and he looked out over the dark grounds of Beacon Academy peaceful in the night past the warm green glow. Then he felt someone poke him in the side, break his concentration, and cause him to drop the crystal.

Yelping as he fumbled for the falling crystal Jaune heard the familiar snicker of a certain carrot top. “You’re up late,” he heard Nora giggle as he pocketed the dust crystal before turning to face her.

“I could say the same to you,” Jaune growled as he crossed his arms and scowled, it was definitely  _ not _ a pout.

“I woke up and saw somebody was missing. Decided to check and see if you were ok.” Nora answered the unspoken question as she walked past him to sit on the edge of the roof. “Are you okay though Jaune-Jaune? I mean really.”

Jaune paused at the sudden serious tone in Nora’s voice, well serious for Nora at least. “I think I’m okay, just a long few weeks and I have trouble sleeping sometimes.” Jaune answered honestly, a serious question deserved a serious answer after all.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Nora asked from her perch as she turned back and smiled at him. Jaune could feel his jaw clench as he fought his first reaction to say no. He had told himself just a few days for things to calm down and he was gonna talk to everyone about what had happened and touch base yeah? So might as well start now. He needed to step up, he was the leader.

“Sure,” Jaune started as he moved to sit down next to Nora. “Want to make a game of it?”

“A game?” Nora questioned as she turned towards him, headed tilted quizzically to one side.

“Sure,” Jaune smiled as he faced her. “We’ll trade questions, you can ask first, then I can ask, and well you get it.”

Nora grinned as she nodded in understanding. “I gotcha Jauney, well in that case go ahead and answer my first question. Why are you having trouble sleeping?”

Jaune looked out over Beacon as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. “I just do I suppose, sleep and I have never been great friends and it’s worse if I have too much to think about.”

“Well what do you have to think about?” Nora pressed as she looked up at him.

“I thought it was my turn now?” Jaune snarked back before chuckling at the pout on Nora’s face. “Mostly it’s just that I need to do better. I’m really not all that talented, not the way all of you are. I mean you can arm wrestle an Ursa and win more often than not. I have an entire semblance geared towards aura manipulation and Ren is still better than me with more fine tuned control. I’m good at dust casting but Weiss and her glyphs can make me look like a child with building blocks in comparison. Ruby is insanely fast, Blake is stealthy and has shadow clones, and Yang is still better than me at hand to hand. I just caught her by surprise and my semblance lets me no-sell hers sometimes.”

Jaune sighed as he gathered his thoughts to continue. He didn’t really  _ want _ to talk about this stuff but, maybe venting would help. “And then there’s Pyrrha, who is amazing, a broken game mechanic of a fighter, a good friend, and a sweet person that somehow had the misfortune to get paired up with me. Then there’s my best friend and adopted brother Guilmon who’s honestly just a better combatant than me. Fact of the matter is I’m probably only here because of him. Cardin wasn’t exactly wrong when he called me a glorified diversity hire Nora.”

Jaune wasn’t quite sure what he expected as a response to that statement but he was fairly certain it wasn’t for Nora to gently reach up and then quickly slap him in the back of his head knocking his head forward a bit. “Ow, what the heck, why!? I thought we were sharing feelings? You asked!” 

“Because you insulted my friend dum-dum.” Nora growled while not looking at him.

“What? It’s true though! In our friend group I’m kind of the load. At least right now I am. I need to get better. I still don’t know why Ozpin put me in charge after the nightmare that was our initiation. I nearly got my friend killed. He only survived thanks to what was either luck or a miracle and it was my fault he was in that situation!” Jaune paused to catch a breath, somewhere in the middle of that he had started shouting and he honestly wasn’t sure where. He just stubbornly looked down at his hands, not wanting to face the tiny valkyrie as he braced for another slap.

Needless to say he was surprised yet again when instead this time he felt a small form lean against him and meld into his side. “Jaune?”

“Yeah Nora?”

“Have you really not figured out why you were made our leader?” Nora’s voice was small and quiet in contrast to his earlier shouting rant and he had to keep quiet and listen himself to hear her.

“No, no Nora I really don’t.” Jaune confessed as he stubbornly kept his gaze downwards on his hands and his lap.

“Jaune do you remember Renny throwing out ideas and plans for how to handle the situation?”

“Well no but-”

“Do you remember Pyrrha or Guilmon coming up with a strategy of any kind while being chased by a giant deathstalker and a horde of Grimm?”

“That’s not the poi-” 

“Jaune.” Nora cut him off again resolutely. “Do you remember me, Nora Valkyrie, queen of the Juniper Kingdom taking charge in that moment? No. Because I didn’t know what to do aside from run, hit things, and try to survive. You were the only one who was even willing to take charge in that moment. You say you made a bad call but Jauney, Guilmon is asleep right now in the dorm like you should be. The fact of the matter is you were the only willing to make a call at all.” 

Jaune felt Nora wrap an arm around his middle in a tight hug before continuing, “That’s why Headmaster Ozpin chose you Jaune, and I’m willing to bet if we talked to the different members of team RWBY they would say something similar about how initiation went for them. So don’t doubt yourself because when it came down to it you were the only one willing to lead, Fearless Leader. As for the other stuff you do remember we’re all friends right? Like, you can ask Renny for tips on aura control just like you’ve been helping me with dust manipulation.”

Jaune couldn’t bring himself to trust his voice in the moment and simply wrapped an arm around the small girl’s shoulders before uttering a small, cracked “Thank you.” It wasn’t an answer to all his problems and it was something he tried telling himself but hearing it from someone else, someone he trusted, made all the difference in the world. After, the two simply sat and enjoyed the moment for a little while as Jaune regained his composure. “Nora?” Jaune asked when he felt he could trust his voice again.

“Yeah Jaune?”

“Is it my turn to ask a question now? I think you just had four or five turns in a row.” Jaune quietly snarked, not letting go of the hug as he felt her stiffen against his side and playfully try to punch at his ribs in response.

“Ughhhh, yes dork you may ask your question of me.” Nora groaned theatrically.

“You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but are you ok after what happened in the forest? What was the memory with the moldy bread?” Jaune felt Nora stiffen against his side again as she pulled the hug in tighter.

“I’ll tell you Jaune, but can I make two requests in exchange?” Nora asked quietly, it was her turn to look out over the campus unwilling to meet his eyes.

“Whatever you need Nora,” Jaune assured her gently.

“Promise you won’t act different after I tell you. I don’t want pity, never pity.” Nora’s voice rose to a growl at the mention of pity.

“I, Jaune Arc, promise to never see Nora Valkyrie as anything other than completely crazy.” Jaune snarked as he looked down at the tiny powerhouse.

He saw Nora’s eyes widen at the comment as she snorted at the comment before pinching his side, hard. “I was being serious you jerk,” she grumbled.

“So am I!” Jaune defended, laughing as he attempted to nurse his side or escape from her grip. He really should’ve known better, there was no escape from Nora. “I really am though Nora, you’re my friend and nothing is gonna change that, ok?” Jaune amended gently.

“Good,” Nora nodded stubbornly as he saw her work her jaw as if she was deciding something. “For my second requirement you can actually say no to this but, can you tell me about the memory I saw too? You know the one.”

Jaune expected to feel his stomach drop out beneath him again but, in all honesty, he had been expecting that she would when he brought this up. It’s why he had been wanting to have this particular conversation one on one instead of with the entire group. “Yeah, yeah I will. If nothing else it’s only fair.”

“Ok,” Nora responded as he once again felt the telltale shift on his shoulder of her nodding her head. She was quiet tonight, a far cry from the endless bundle of energy she usually was. “I don’t have a mom or dad, well actually I obviously do because I’m here but I don’t remember them. My earliest clear memory is digging through the trash of a caravan in Mistral for food. Someone must’ve taken care of me before that but I can’t remember at all who it may have been.”

“I scavenged and survived and traveled with the caravan as long as I could. Hiding in the luggage until we would reach another city or caravan and then moved on to the next. Sometimes they would find me and put me to work, other times it was a beating and left with the nearest village or inn. I ate more food that was rotten or stale than otherwise growing up.” 

“Eventually one day, there was a Grimm attack somewhere, Ren found me, and we’ve been together ever since. A little later after that mom found us.” 

“Mom?” Jaune asked in surprise.

“Mhmm, Ren still calls her Rena. She’s not our real mom. She found us when she was doing a protection detail for a village. She’s the one who taught Ren how to fight. She makes the most amazing food and her ice cream is to die for.” Nora gushed at the end.

“She sounds pretty cool.”

“Oh she’s the coolest! I really want you and Guilmon to meet her someday! Maybe at some point we can go to Mistral and we can stop by.”

“That sounds fun,” Jaune laughed, “I’ll look forward to it!”

The mood was light on the rooftop despite the somber start, that was good Jaune could work with that. Maybe. Well, nothing to it but to do it. “Did you know that I was the first person to bond to a digimon? Or well at least the first they found, I think I’m the first overall.”

“No, really? Shouldn’t you have been on the cover of like, a magazine or something?” Nora questioned, a surprised look on her face as she turned towards him.

“Not quite… well, actually my picture might be on the cover of a scientific journal somewhere but that’s not the point. At the time I didn’t really know what was going on. I was just excited I had a new friend to play with, and then my parents found us. This was about ten or eleven years ago now so digimon were still a pretty new thing at the time and most people didn’t know what they were or what they looked like. Especially in little out of the way villages like the one I grew up in. So when my parents saw me walk up to the house with a black and red lizard bigger than I was well, my mom started screaming and my dad grabbed his mace. Thank goodness Guilmon started talking and waved otherwise I get the feeling it would’ve gone way worse. As it was my parents decided to bring me and Guil to Vale for a check up at the national hospital. The check up turned into an extended stay. The extended stay turned into a study and they stopped letting our family see us.”

Jaune paused to catch his breath and also see if Nora had anything to contribute but no. She just maintained the hug and waited for him to continue.

“I was apparently only there for four months but to a six year old it felt like forever and I was seven when I came out. They didn’t really torture me or anything they just… studied us. They mostly left me and Guil in a room with a big mirror that covered the entire wall and a bunch of toys and stuff. Sometimes they would come in and ask us questions, both together and separate. There were a few times they’d take samples, blood, hair, and tissue, from both of us as well. I remember there was on time that was really scary where they decided for medical reasons I apparently needed my tonsils and appendix removed. Of course they handled it in house and I think it was just an excuse for larger samples. Towards the end they brought a huntsman in to unlock my aura and see if that had any effect or if I even could unlock it. Like I said it wasn’t torture, other people have it worse, but to six year old me it was terrifying.” Jaune finished and felt his hands unclench and loosened the grip he had on Nora, he hadn’t realized he was hugging her that hard. All Nora did was tighten her grip again in response.

“Why did they let you leave?” 

“Ok, so this is all secondhand from my family but first you should understand that the Arc family isn’t particularly wealthy or anything, at least not anymore, but it is still old. Dad started calling up every acquaintance, family friend, and favor owed. Apparently he somehow managed to catch Ozpin and Oobleck’s attention and they leaned on the council to get us released. It wasn’t until Oobleck brought up his plan for the DHI and my part in it that they finally let me go. So my options were either science experiment or career huntsman. Lucky thing was, all I ever wanted to be was a huntsman anyway.”

The two settled into a companionable silence again with a complete lack of judgement as they took in the night and enjoyed the company. Once again Jaune broke first, “Nora?”

“Yeah Jaune-Jaune?” 

“Thank you. You’re amazing, you know that?”

“I know,” she responded as she pulled in closer. “But it’s nice to hear you say it anyway. You’re a good man Jaune Arc, no matter what anyone else says about you.” Jaune could hear the smile in her voice at the joking barb she sent at the end.

He was about to retort when he heard a loud thump come from the door behind them that led up to the roof. “Think I should go check it out?” Jaune asked the space heater tied to his side. Seriously, how was the girl so warm? It was crazy.

“Naw,” Nora groaned as she slowly picked herself up. “Probably just some other students looking for a makeout spot. We should be getting to bed though, for real this time.” Nora suggested as she leaned down to lend him a hand up, trademark grin back on her face. Jaune reached out to take it before she suddenly reached forward and playfully tapped him on the nose, “Boop!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jaune asked as she took his hand for real this time and helped him up.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Nora snarked as the two made their way back to their dorm room. 


	7. Chapter 7

**I OWN NOTHING!**

  
  


Jaune grunted in exertion as he caught the heavy blow from Magnhild on his shield. He made a valiant effort and held for one beautiful moment. Then physics took over and he ragdolled as he was thrown backwards by the force of the blow. The blond knight managed to tuck into a roll as he hit the ground shoulders first, coming back up on his feet with just enough time to block a volley of bullets from Stormflower and rolled once again, to the side this time, to get out of the way of another heavy blow from magnhild coming to land where his head would've been.

This research/training/thinly disguised sadism was some bull. Oobleck had said they would try to incite digivolution by making he and Gui feel like they were in mortal danger. What that really translated to was- OH COLOR! THAT’S PYRRHA RIDING HER OWN SHIELD TO FLY AND SHE WAS COMING AT HIM LIKE A BITCH MISSILE! 

Jaune channeled aura to his dust and began layering barriers at a furious rate. One, two, three- nope just two layers thick, holy shit she was fast. Pyrrha was like a broken game mechanic. Fast, strong, nearly untouchable, and quickly shattering both of his barriers as they barely slowed her down. Jaune had just enough time to see and process what was happening as Pyrrha broke through his hastily crafted defenses and kicked off her shield, both blocking his view of her and sending him rocketing back once again as he took his partner’s round shield to center mass. He felt his body fold around it as the bronze disk took him on an express trip towards the nearest tree behind him.

Jaune did his best to twist to the left as he slammed against the tree trunk and subsequently bounced off. Landing on his feet Jaune pulsed his semblance as he dashed away. It healed his hurts but even with his massive reserves he only had so much aura and he’d already been getting his butt kicked for a solid twenty minutes. A quick scan of the battlefield as he moved showed Guilmon dancing around fireballs as he responded in kind, firing off pyrospheres at the Doctor.

Jaune needed to pair back up with Gui, but every time he even took the time to think about it- whoa shit! Jaune pulled back at the last second as he saw green blades slash right in front of him, letting one leg swing under the other Jaune let himself drop to the ground and rolled to the right. Coming back up to his feat the knight channeled a surge of aura through the hardlight dust in his shield and sent out a pulse in the form of a ring of energy to slam into his pursuers and make some breathing room.

Jaune took the moment to scan the area around him. Ren to his ten o’clock, Nora at five, and Pyrrha at six, he needed to try and remove at least one of them from the equation and… well… unfortunately Ren was the closest and probably easiest to deal with. ‘ _ Sorry buddy,’ _ Jaune thought as he sheathed his sword and collapsed the shield back into its scabbard form before taking it in two hands, he swiftly wrapped both in hardlight energy making a club of sorts, flared his semblance for one brief moment, and SWUNG.

Jaune was fairly certain Ren’s eyes weren’t supposed to bulge out like that as the swing caught his taciturn teammate in the gut before sending him rocketing off into the treeline and actually through one of the trees… yeah Ren would be ok right? Oh shit, Nora was swinging again. Oh hell she was sparking! Where had that come from….  _ ‘Oh noooo….’ _ Jaune moaned pitifully in his mind.  _ ‘Ruby.’  _ Looks like the upgrade for Magnhild was coming along nicely. With no time to move Jaune did his best to plant himself and catch the strike on his shield. But, well, much like arguing, her pout, and her smile, there was no resisting Nora.

Jaune flared his semblance and the moment he was afraid of finally arrived. For a single brilliant moment he glowed with a shining white light and became a bulwark that the hurricane known as Nora clashed against, and he held the line. Then the light flickered and dimmed, his aura finally burned out. With a glimpse of Nora’s eyes widening in realization and horror he felt his feet leave the ground as he rocketed backwards and did his best to brace for the coming impact. This was gonna hurt. A lot.

**“JAUNE!!”** He heard multiple voices cry out in unison. But really he was just focusing on not snapping his back like a twig when he hit whatever was behind him in the next second or two right now. Jaune closed his eyes and did his best to brace for the impending impact. Huh, whatever was behind him was simultaneously both much softer and much larger than he was expecting, as Jaune felt himself collide against something with a surprising amount of give. 

“You ok?” Jaune heard a deep, gravelly voice he had only heard once before rumble above him. Opening his eyes Jaune looked up into the giant visored face of Growlmon as the large digimon stared back down at him.

“Jauney!” Jaune grunted as pink and orange blur slammed into his middle where he lay on Growlmon’s palm. “Are you ok? I’m sooooo sorry, I didn’t know your aura was about to break!” Nora apologized as she looked up at him from where her arms were wrapped around his middle. A glance past her showed Pyrrha with a concerned look on her face as she seemed to be doing her best to check him over without touching him.

“Yeah,” Jaune responded as he took a mental tally of his condition. He could feel and move his fingers and toes, nothing hurt yet, and he was still awake and capable of talking. Jaune was willing to count that as a win, “Yeah I’m good guys, thanks. Looks like Dr. Oobleck’s idea worked too, huh?”

“Indeed Mr. Arc!” Jaune turned to see the familiar form of the Doc as he made his way back into the clearing half carrying Ren. Oh crap, how hard had he hit Ren!? Jaune was back up on his feet and running towards his mentor and friend as the rest of the team converged on the two as well. 

“Ren! You ok buddy?” Jaune asked as he reached his teammate. 

“Just my pride,” Ren smiled as he moved to assure his team, waving off their concerns before Oobleck added in his two cents. 

“Quite, his pride and most of his stomach actually. Apparently Mr. Ren decided that it would be best to; take one hit so his aura could take others and let his remaining aura heal it up later.” Oobleck said with only the vaguest hint of humor as Ren’s ears actually turned pink. Jaune felt his eyes widen, he didn’t think it was possible for Ren to get embarrassed or blush. “I do wonder where he could have gotten that idea from?” Oobleck questioned with a pointed look towards Jaune who had the decency to blush at the insinuation as he felt heat rise up his cheeks and neck.

“How bad is it? Will Ren be ok Doctor?” Nora cut in as she and Pyrrha joined them with Growlmon looking down over the group.

“Perfectly fine Ms. Valkyrie,” Oobleck assured the excitable student, for once not taking time to sip from his thermos, Jaune noticed. “He’ll have a nasty bruise for the rest of the day and into tomorrow, but Mr. Ren seems to have avoided shattering his aura and it should already be working to heal the damage. All he needs is a bit of time and rest. He should be perfectly fine by tomorrow evening.”

“Oh thank the Knights,” Nora sighed in apparent relief, as Jaune watched the tension visibly bleed out of her with her posture becoming more relaxed. Jaune watched as she smiled sweetly at Ren with her eyes closed, and then lashed out and punched him solidly in the arm.

“Owww,” Ren flinched from the blow as he looked at his sister confused. “Nora? Why?” Jaune watched him ask piteously as he looked down at the still smiling ginger.

“For doing stupid things and scaring me,” Nora ground out in a tone that did not match the angelic look on her face. “What gave you the idea to try that and get hurt!? Let me see your stomach!” Nora shouted as she reached out to grab the bottom of Ren’s shirt as he did his best to slap her hand away.

“Nora!” Ren jerked back in embarrassment. “I’m fine, it works for Jaune right?”

“Renny,” Nora explained slowly as if talking to a child. “Jaune-Jaune has a semblance that lets him heal something like that in seconds. You still take hours.”

“You know Nora, I realize that now,” Ren laughed as he winced. Jaune watched his taciturn teammate’s face and though he still had trouble reading Lie Ren he knew exactly what was going through his friend’s mind in that moment and what he was about to do. Change the subject blatantly and pray it worked out, unfortunately Jaune had learned from experience it almost never did. 

“Guilmon is giant now.”

“Indeed he is Mr. Ren,” Oobleck gushed. “It appears the experiment was a success!” ‘ _ Oh come on! Why does it work for him!?’  _

“I’m Growlmon now,” the now giant digimon gently corrected as he tried to lean down close to the rest of his team and not tower over them. It was an awkward struggle to look at, but Gui was obviously doing his best.

“Indeed you are Mr. Growlmon!” Oobleck cheered excitedly as he began to circle the dragon at a rapid rate after handing Ren off to Jaune and Nora. “Tell me Growlmon, are you experiencing any undue strain? Is the transformation painful? Where does the extra mass come from? What about the ammo in your weapons and the transformation the weapons themselves undergo? Are they incorporated because you wear them? Or is it because you built them that they are perceived to be part of you for the digivolutionary process? Wait, the sensors! Ms. Valkyrie! Ms. Nikos! Your assistance please!” Oobleck was darting back and forth in every direction like a supercharged hummingbird as he fired off questions at Growlmon at a rapid rate while simultaneously poking and prodding the dinosaur taking data and measurements.

Jaune shook away the dizziness that came with watching the Doc when he was in his zone as he felt Ren’s weight rest on him more fully. Looking down he saw Nora shoot the both of them an apologetic smile before rushing to assist the professor with his work. “Wanna go find a spot to sit down?” Jaune asked after a moment of awkward silence as they watched their respective partners assist the hyperactive professor.

“That would be nice, yes.” Ren answered with a bit more of a grimace than he had shown before.

Jaune quickly moved towards the trees at the edge of the clearing and set his friend down leaning back against it, before taking a spot next to him. “So how bad is it really?” Jaune did his best to act casually as he nervously fiddled with the grass next to him and tried not to let his worry or guilt show. 

“Well,” Jaune heard Ren slowly sigh next to him.”It certainly doesn’t feel good.”

“Oh. uh… yeah. I guess it wouldn’t.” Jaune mumbled as he felt that now familiar trapdoor in his stomach swing open and felt the bottom drop out of it. “I’m sorry,” he quietly mumbled.

“Hmm? For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.” Jaune felt something pull in his neck as he twisted it around in surprise to look to his friend, ow. 

“I’m pretty sure it was my fault Ren,” Jaune said, completely confused. “I mean I’m the one who actually, you know, hit you.”

“I’m aware,” Ren paused for a moment for what Jaune had now learned was him picking his next words carefully. “It was a decisive hit, you should be proud if anything. It was combat training and we had you outnumbered three to one, someone was going to get hit with something Jaune.” Ren explained slowly as he spoke his words with obvious care in his voice.

“Well yeah, but I actually hurt you,” Jaune argued. Why was Ren insisting on being so nice about this? It was obviously Jaune’s fault wasn’t it?

“And? It was combat training. Injuries happen, that’s why we train.” Ren explained back a touch of something in his voice. Irritation? Understanding? Jaune honestly couldn’t tell. “Besides the only reason I got hurt is I tried something new that didn’t pay off the way I wanted it to.”

“What do you mean?” Jaune asked, confusion now colored by curiosity.

“I don’t have the aura reserves that the other members of our team do, nevermind your ridiculous supply. Instead I need to pick up tricks to use mine as efficiently as possible.” Jaune watched Ren cough a bit like he was clearing his throat before continuing. Actually Jaune wasn’t sure he had ever heard the quiet boy talk this much before.

“Anyway,” Ren picked up again. “I tried that trick I had heard you mention before about healing damage being less aura intensive than completely blocking some attacks. I don’t think it’s gonna work for me.” Jaune could’ve sworn he heard actual sarcasm in Ren’s voice that time. What the heck was this!? Opposite day?

Still though, “Sorry man,” Jaune apologized again. “I’d lend you some of my aura if I could.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’re good.” Ren assured him as Jaune went back towards watching their teammates assist the professor with his research.

“Yes Growlmon I do believe if you can learn to focus on that sensation then over time you will be fully capable of conscious digivolution. The next time we practice or you all are in combat I want you to focus on visualizing the change and how it feels. I believe we will crack this yet!” Oobleck rattled off, taking quick sips of coffee every few words as he addressed the large digimon that was currently lifting his heavy, armored visor above his eyeline and trying to keep up with the caffeinated academic. 

Jaune stopped paying attention as the conversation carried on, apparently Oobleck was wanting to work with Gui on dedigivolving so they could call it a day. Jaune just sat and enjoyed the beautiful day and atmosphere for about five minutes until the awkward silence got to him. “So we are good right?” Jaune probed his green and pink themed teammate.

Jaune heard an odd sound somewhere between a bark and a snort as Ren responded, “Yes Jaune, we’re good.” Well that was good, wouldn’t be good for there to be any ongoing tensions in the team for any reason and- wait….. Had Ren just LAUGHED!?

Jaune turned ready to confirm if he had actually heard what he thought he had when he was interrupted by the sight of the now back to normal size Gui approaching them. Apparently it was time for them to head home. Well, at least they had the rest of the weekend. Maybe Jaune would be able to replicate the miracle.

\--HoH--

Ruby Rose was not typically a morning person but Beacon seemed to be doing its best to change that. She had managed to get in two whole years early, and that was really cool! But apparently there was a bunch of stuff she was actually supposed to LEARN during those two years that she had now skipped over. So now it was late nights studying and early mornings training as she did her best to catch up and keep up with the rest of the class. Weiss had honestly been a godsend there even if she was a little crabby about having to help Ruby study sometimes.

Ruby knew better anyway though. Weiss was prickly, but she was totally Ruby’s bestie even if she didn’t admit it. She just needed Weiss to get over whatever made her act all weird about Jaune and then she could hangout with all of her besties at once! That was another thing! She actually had more than one bestie now! There was Weiss who was kinda cold but Ruby knew she was secretly really nice, and then there was Jaune who had…. something going on but Ruby knew they’d get it figured out and he was already really nice, and then there was Guilmon who Ruby could nerd out about weapon stuff with alongside the last of her new besties Nora! 

The first version of the upgrades to Nora’s hammer were ok but Ruby knew they could do better, they just needed a little more work. Plus they could also work a little bit more on that secret project they had been toying with ever since Gui brought it up. Still, Ruby was glad she had accepted the invite to hangout with Nora and Jaune back then. She had managed to make a whole new friend out of it! This whole social life thing was easy. She was Ruby Rose, queen of friend making!

Actually speaking of her friends, was that a picture of Jaune? There was some kind of poster or flyer or something taped to the wall of the building she was walking by. It had a picture of Jaune but someone drew bunny ears and rabbit teeth on him? That was rude. Ruby tore it down but a quick glance revealed that there were many, many more. Some followed the rabbit theme and said things like ‘animal in disguise’ and that was already disgusting. What worried Ruby was the other pictures she saw.

Jaune’s face taped to a picture of an old operation board game and pictures of Jaune and Guilmon’s faces over white mice in a cage with the words science experiment written. Ruby tore the flyers down as quickly as she could find them but there were more, always more. Jaune and Guilmon with a hundred demeaning insults that followed the theme of him either being part faunus or references to some kind of experiment and what was that? What did that mean? What experiment? What had they done to her friends? AND WHY WERE THERE FLYERS UP ABOUT NORA TOO!?

Pictures of her face surrounded by rotting food or taped over raccoons and possums digging through trash. Why? What was this? What didn’t she know about her friends and why did it hurt so much? Who wanted to hurt them? Why do this?

Every time Ruby thought she had found and torn them all down, another set of flyers popped up somewhere else. Whoever had done this must’ve spent the entire night before putting these up and Ruby REALLY wanted to find out which son of a biscuit had done it. She wasn’t sure what she would do with them once she had found them, but she was pretty sure it would involve Crescent Rose. 

Ruby was pulled to a stop when she heard the noise though. Oh this was bad. There were other people out and about and they were finding the flyers too and Ruby hadn’t been able to tear them all down and she wasn’t the best with people but even she could tell what she was seeing. People were finding the flyers and reacting when they saw what was there. Some looked disgusted, some looked confused, some stared with pity, and to Ruby’s horror, some pointed and started laughing.

Ruby had to do something but what should she do? She needed to do something but  _ what could she do!? _ The professors? Tear down more of these flyers herself? She needed, she needed,  _ she needed to check on her friends. _ Hugging the flyers she had already grabbed to her chest as her eyes were filled with tears Ruby turned and  **_RAN_ ** . Her semblance kicking off in spurts as she made her way back across campus and did her best to ignore all the people. People seeing flyers and posters she hadn’t noticed before. People looking at her friends differently. People laughing at her friends.

Ruby moved as quickly as she could without dropping the flyers she had torn down leaving a haphazard trail of rose petals to mark her path as she made her way back to the dorms and prayed with everything she had that team JGNPR hadn’t woken up yet.

A few desperate minutes later found Ruby standing nervously outside of the door to her friends’ dorm room. Gulping in trepidation she reached a trembling hand forward and nervously knocked on the door.

It was opened by the eternally grinning face of Nora and Ruby must have looked like a mess because she could see Nora’s face shift from her trademark grin to one of worry and concern as she took in the red reaper’s appearance. “Ruby? What’s wrong?”

Something in Ruby snapped. “Nora I- * _ hic* _ I’m sorry I tried! But there were too many and they were everywhere and I grabbed as many as I could but there were more and I didn’t know what to do and I was scared for you and Jaune and Gui and I still don’t know what to do and I’m sorry! I-* _ hic* _ .” Ruby cut out. She was babbling, she knew she was babbling but the words had started pouring out and they wouldn’t stop and she still wasn’t sure what to do and Nora was gonna be hurt by what she had to tell her but Ruby still had to tell her.

“Ruby you’re not making any sense,” Ruby could tell Nora was doing her best to calm her down to poor results and why should Nora be having to calm Ruby down and make her feel better when Nora was the one who was being hurt even if she didn’t realize it? “Ruby please,” Nora said gently, “just tell me what’s wrong ok?”

Ruby nodded, not trusting her own voice this time she simply held out the flyers for Nora to take. “I-  _ *hic* _ I found them all over campus. I promise I took down as many of them as I could. I promise!” 

Nora took the papers from Ruby’s hands and the red reaper watched as the confusion and worry morphed to shock and panic as her grip tightened around the papers in her hands. “Nora?” Ruby heard Pyrrha call from inside the dormitory. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?” 

“Pyrrha, wake up Jaune,” Nora said with tension thick in her voice as she continued to look down and flip through the papers. 

“Why? I thought we were turning off his alarm again today so he would actually sleep a little while?” Wait what? Jaune wasn’t sleeping? Ruby had known something was up with the late night study sessions but Jaune usually just put his books away and went back to his room right after she did! Unless he didn’t actually stay there…

“Pyrrha! Now! Please!” Nora begged as her voice cracked still looking at the cruel propaganda in front of her.

“A-alright,” Pyrrha awkwardly responded. As Nora beckoned Ruby into the room and shut the door behind the both of them. The atmosphere in the room was tense as Nora tightly gripped the papers to her chest and stared at the floor. Ruby hated it. Nora wasn’t supposed to look like that, she was supposed to be confident and smiley. Ruby didn’t hate people, it wasn’t worth the energy or the time it took to actually hold onto hate for someone. Seeing one of her best friends turned to this as part of some cruel prank Ruby felt something ugly and red and black twist inside of her like a rose with thorns and no petals. If this was what hate was, Ruby wanted nothing to do with it, she just wanted to kick that person’s butt even more.

“Huh? Pyrrha?” Jaune’s voice cut straight through Ruby’s train of thought as she watched him slowly wake up. A quick scan of the room showed Pyrrha shaking Jaune awake as Ren simultaneously did the same for Gui. “Ruby? What are you doing here this early?” Ruby turned back to Jaune as he looked at her. She moved to answer him but was cut off by Nora.

“She found these Jaune, someone heard us the other night.” Nora quietly explained as she held out the papers to Jaune. With a look of clear confusion on his face he took the stack of papers and began to flip through them as Pyrrha, Gui, and Ren looked over his shoulders. Ruby saw it all. The shock and horror on Pyrrha’s face, the surprise and worry on Gui’s, Ren’s face switching from emotionless to blinding fury and back again over and over again, and she watched Jaune’s face as his expression turned ashen as he looked through the papers quietly.

He took his time, he flipped through each individually, and stayed quiet the entire time. The only thing that changed at all was the color of his face as he turned pale at first and then Ruby could see color start to creep back in. An angry red that started at his ears and she could see making its way down the back of his neck.

The silence was finally broken when Jaune spoke, “I’m gonna kill Cardin.” 

“We don’t technically know that it was him Jaune.” Nora tried to reason though her heart didn’t seem to be in it.

“He’s the only one that makes sense Nora,” Jaune pushed back. Not shouting or raising his voice as he looked at the girl. If anything he seemed guilty. “He’s had a bone to pick with me since the start of the semester and it’s only gotten worse since that time with Velvet in the cafeteria. That thump we heard Friday night must’ve been him listening in.” Jaune sighed as he looked up with eyes that were far too sad for Ruby’s liking. “The only thing I feel bad about is he went after you now too, I am so sorry Nora.”

Nora didn’t say anything in response really, she just let loose some kind of strangled sound that might have been a laugh or a sob before reaching forward to wrap the still sitting Jaune in a hug. “Jaune you idiot! I was worried about you!” The words were muffled to Ruby as Nora spoke them into his shoulder. “All this stupid mess has been to go after you and now he’s spread your secret all over campus and how are you worried about me right now you idiot!”

“He brought up your past with the caravans and-” Jaune started out before being cut off by a Nora who was now properly on a roll.

“Oh screw him for that for sure, but the only thing he did there is make himself look like more of an asshole. Hungry orphans are a dime a dozen on Remnant and now I have a mom that loves me and a Ren and a Team.” Nora explained as she beat on Jaune’s back weakly. Actually Ruby thought it was weak but Jaune actually seemed to be grunting from the impacts.

“Jaune, Nora what is going on!?” Pyrrha begged in confusion as things finally started calming down. As the two split, flushed with some embarrassment. “I,” Jaune began awkwardly as he looked up to the rest of the group from his still sitting spot on the bed. “I can tell you my story, apparently it’s all over campus already anyway. It’s up to Nora if she wants to tell you hers.” And so Ruby settled in for an explanation finally on what exactly was going on with her friends as Jaune began telling a story about what happened just after he met Guilmon.

\--HoH--

Demiveemon loved Beacon! It was objectively the best place in the world! He knew it had to be true because the only parts of the world he had seen so far were the forest and Beacon and Beacon was way better than the forest! It had food and games and TV and books and food and tiny spaces to hide in and surprise people! 

Beacon had his favorite people too! There was his most favoritest person in the world, Pyrrha because she was his partner and he needed to look out for her! There was also Jaune and Guilmon (he was a digimon too!) and Nora and Ren who he played and cooked with (Nora let him ride on her shoulders) and Ruby who gave him cookies and Blake who he took naps with and Weiss would give hugs AND snacks and Pyrrha like being around Yang (she was funny) so Demiveemon liked Yang!

There were also the lunch ladies who were really sweet, Rillo the janitor who he always made sure to say hi to, and Demiveemon's absolute favorite secret person after Pyrrha, the nice blonde lady with glasses! Sometimes everyone else was busy and they couldn't bring Demiveemon with them so Oobleck (he was really funny) would set aside a space where Demiveemon could stay for a while and then sometimes the nice lady with glasses came!

She would pick Demiveemon up and they would go to a different room for a while and she would show him pictures from albums in her desk and they would play flying with her lifting him and if he was really good she would even let him have some of the candies from the bowl on her desk! They would talk about things too. Like what dust was and what aura is and how he could choose to have his unlocked when he got bigger, which he obviously would because he needed to look after Pyrrha.

Yes, Demiveemon was completely certain that Beacon was the best place ever in the whole world. So why didn’t it feel like it right now? Things had been different since the day before and Demiveemon didn’t like it. Pyrrha was sad and angry, Ren was angry even though he seemed to think he was hiding it, Nora was sad and embarrassed, Guilmon pretended nothing was wrong, and Jaune was… distant. He acted the most normal out of them but it was like he had drawn back from the rest and that wasn’t good. Every now and then when he thought no one noticed Jaune would open his mouth as if to say something and then stop like he decided against it. But Demiveemon noticed, he always noticed.

He noticed the tightness around Ren’s eyes from anger, he noticed the tiny ways Nora drew in on herself and became less outgoing in fear of judgement or pity, he noticed the way how even though Jaune had trained his smile to the point he could make it reach his eyes if he wanted to, he still carried himself just differently enough that something was obviously wrong. Most of all though he noticed the blatantly obvious way his partner tried and failed to raise the spirits of her teammates and the way her mood continued to drop further every time she failed. 

Yang and her team helped a bit at least. Ruby and Blake were both friends with Jaune and Ruby was friends with Nora and Guilmon too. But most importantly Yang could make Pyrrha laugh even when she was feeling down and that was really important. In fact laughter was probably the best way to fix all of this, so laughter was Demiveemon’s mission today!

He sat in the room of the Nice Glasses Lady and quickly got to work on his secret plan. Furiously he scratched across pieces of paper she left out for him with pencils in all kinds of different colors (they were so cool!). He worked and he worked and he worked furiously, he only had so much time and he needed everything to be done before Pyrrha and the others got back to the room.

It took a whole thirty minutes, (so pretty much forever) but Demiveemon managed to finish his work with plenty of time to spare, so he took some time to prepare a few extras for the Nice Glasses Lady too. He was just putting the finish touches on his project when the Nice Glasses Lady came back to the room. “I’m sorry I had to step out a moment to handle Ozpin’s latest disaster Demi, have you been ok…..?” She trailed off as she looked around the room taking in the magnificence of Demiveemon’s work.

“I made them for everyone!” Demiveemon explained cheerfully as he hopped up and down. “Everyone is sad, but if I give them these they’ll stop being said because it’ll make them happy instead!” 

Nice Glasses Lady didn’t really say anything as she looked around the room studying the breadth of his work. He really did an amazing job. Slowly a small tender smile grew on her face as she responded to Demiveemon, “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea Demi, I’m sure they’ll love them.”

“Can we go back to the room now so we can put them up early?” Demiveemon asked, this was the most important part of the plan. It had to be a surprise!

The Glasses Lady nodded warmly (Demiveemon could tell) and began to help him gather up the fruits of his labor. She was stopped for a moment when Demiveemon held out her share of the bounty. “These are for you!” He smiled as wide as he could up at her, really Glasses Lady was probably the nicest person in Beacon.

An hour and some quick work later found Demiveemon patiently waiting in his favorite spot in the room, underneath Pyrrha’s bed where no one could see him, while he waited for everyone to come back. His patience was rewarded though when he heard the door open to the familiar sound of the team returning.

“I still call shenanigans on Port’s story today,” Demiveemon heard Jaune’s voice come through the door. “You really expect me to believe he took down a giant Kujata with nothing more than a red cape? Get re- what the heck happened here……?” Demiveemon heard him trail off. He must be looking at the surprise! That meant it was time! 

“SURPRISE!” Demiveemon shouted, just a little bit muffled, as he tried to squeeze himself out from under the bed. A moment later he felt the weight on his back lift off and himself get picked up as Pyrrha pulled him out from under the bed. She really was the best person wasn’t she? 

“Demi,” Pyrrha started slowly as she stared at the walls of their room, obviously taking in the beauty of his work. “Did you do this?” 

“Mhmm!” The blue digimon nodded enthusiastically. “I drew them for all of you today! The mean pictures made all of you sad, so I made nice pictures instead! The Nice Glasses Lady helped me put them up” Demiveemon took a moment to scan the room and every bit of the walls was covered in art drawn all by himself. 

“Is…. is that me riding a giant blue bear!?” Nora cheered ecstatically as she rushed into the room. 

“Yup!” Demiveemon cheered from his perch in Pyrrha’s arms. Truly it had been among the best of his works. Nora must have had a discerning eye for art. Demiveemon watched as the other members of the team filtered into the room and began looking over the pictures he had put on the walls, with help of course.

“What is this one?” Oh! Ren had found the best one! Demiveemon wriggled his way out of Pyrrha’s arms to make his way over to the quiet man to explain.

“It’s the day you brought me home!” Demiveemon explained as he excitedly pulled on Ren’s pant leg to bring the picture down where he could see it. “See here’s you and Guilmon with pans from when you were cooking, and here’s Jaune and Nora sitting on the couch, and here’s me and Pyrrha!” 

“Why is my hair green?” Ren questioned further.

“I ran out of black and pink,” Demiveemon answered honestly as he looked up at Ren with a smile on his face.

Demiveemon wasn’t sure who did it first but someone chuckled, then another, then another, and then everyone was laughing from Ren’s quiet chuckle to Pyrrha’s snort. His mission was a success! His impending victory dance was cut off though as he felt a familiar pair of arms pick him up though so Pyrrha could hug him gently to her chest.

“Heehee * _ snrk* _ thank you Demiveemon,” Pyrrha praised him as she looked over more of the pictures on the walls and gently stroked his head. “I think we all needed this.” The hug grew as he felt another pair of arms wrap around the two of them and soon found himself in the middle of a team JGNPR sandwich. The plan had gone off perfectly, things could finally start going back to normal.

\--HoH--

Weiss Schnee felt guilty. This was a problem because as far as the heiress was concerned she really shouldn’t be. 

So what if she had been unnecessarily rude to a mostly random stranger? He had knocked her over first. Yes, he had apologized profusely but that wasn’t the point! But he was also a fan, but that was an entire complicated mess in and of itself considering even if she liked it, her music career was largely pushed and organized by her father for money and publicity. But he had also saved her in the forest when he didn’t need to. 

All of these thoughts and conflicting emotions in regards to the leader of team JGNPR had been passing through Weiss’ mind off and on since the day of initiation. Now though, there was a new traitorous voice in the back of her mind, ‘ _ You called him the headmaster’s experiment.’  _

Ruby had told the rest of the team the story of the two with Jaune and Nora’s permission and suddenly all Weiss could think of was her accidental faux pas. It wasn’t her fault, there was no possible way she could have known about his past… But it was still rude. She needed to be and do better. So now Weiss found herself wondering the grounds of Beacon Academy trying to figure out where exactly the troublesome duo had gone. 

Jaune and Nora had opted to stick together in the aftermath of the event and usually they had another member of one of the teams with them. Typically their lizard friend the digimon and when he wasn’t with them he was with Ruby. Otherwise it would be Ruby spending time with all three of them, the entire team together, Ren or Pyrrha, and sometimes Blake which Weiss couldn’t understand. Something about the sanctity of the corner buddies? Blake hadn’t really elaborated. Actually wait, Blake had mentioned she was going to spend time with them, so right now they would be in the library!

Lead firmly grasped, Weiss headed for the Beacon Academy library. A solid twenty minutes of searching later Weiss finally broke down and messaged her teammate’s scroll to find out where exactly they were. From there it was a quick walk to a quiet corner on the third floor of the library as Blake, Jaune, and Nora sat and read on the couches there.

“Ahem,” Weiss politely cleared her throat as she made her presence known.

“Hmm?” Jaune made a questioning sound as he looked up. “Hey Weiss, did you need anything?”

“Yes Arc,” Weiss took the reins of the conversation imperiously just as she was taught. “Would you be willing to come with me for a moment? I have need of you.”

A sound to her left had Weiss looking down into the suspicious gaze of Nora Valkyrie, “What do you need him for?”

“Just a conversation,” Weiss assured the girl. As the suspicious gaze held Weiss reiterated, “A private one.”

“Sure Weiss,” Jaune agreed as he stood up and slowly stretched out from where he had been sitting and wow. He was REALLY tall wasn’t he?

With a sharp nod that left no room for arguments Weiss led Jaune away from the group and their comfy corner to a smaller alcove between shelves as Weiss began to talk. “I have brought you here because I believe I owe you an apology for crass behaviour unbecoming of a Schnee.”

Weiss just looked up as Jaune continued to stare down at her with that dumb look on his face before speaking. “Weiss what are you talking about? We haven’t even really spoken since that whole fiasco during initiation.”

“Yes,” Weiss confirmed as she crossed her arms in front of her. “I owe you an apology for that as well I have behaved in a rude and standoffish manner when you have been nothing if not courteous. In this case though I feel I owe you an apology for my poor choice of words before initiation. Had I known of your past I wouldn’t have referred to you as an experiment and for that I apologize.”

“I mean it’s not like you knew,” She watched Jaune nervously rub the back of his head as he tried to reason with her. “I mean you’re not gonna say it now right? Plus we both kinda made bad first impressions back then. I did run you over and then I may have come on a little bit strong.”

“Regardless, you have been a model citizen since then,” Weiss cut through the awkward blond’s arguments. “My behaviour however has been unbecoming of my name and status and so I feel I owe you an apology. I expect nothing less from myself and those around me.”

“Apology accepted then I guess? Jaune answered awkwardly as he leaned away from Weiss. Good. Her presence should be intimidating. She was a Schnee, the best of the best….. And she was supposed to be getting away from that mindset as well… Weiss sighed internally as she tried to dial back the intensity.

“Good, is there anything I can do to repay you for this kindness or possibly due in addition to the apology?” Weiss offered freely. A debt owed was a terrible thing. Better to pay things off now and wipe the slate clean. There was nothing worse than a favor owed.

Jaune looked down at her and for a moment Weiss was certain he was about to turn her down when his eyes lit up and he started speaking. “Actually can I have that autograph we talked about before? The one on my copies of your albums?”

“I thought those were your sister’s” Weiss questioned up at him with narrow eyes. Looking at him now Weiss couldn’t help teasing the bigger boy a bit as he gulped at the sudden reminder of the obvious lie. He made it so  _ easy _ , he was like a golden retriever in a human body.

“Yeah uh…. I mean they’re her albums and I’m just holding onto them….” Jaune awkwardly trailed off as he let his shoulders droop in defeat. “Can we just pretend I never did that?”

“Of course,” Weiss agreed graciously and very pointedly did not snicker at the boy’s dismay. “I’m surprised you like my music honestly.”

“Why?” Jaune asked incredulously as he raised an eyebrow, “You’re really good and have a great vocal range. Heck you used to be my celebrity cruuuu…… Can we pretend I didn’t say that part either?”

“Your celebrity crush huh?” Weiss snarked as the blond’s face flushed crimson. “Not anymore though?” 

“No, not anymore,” Jaune murmured awkwardly. “I have someone else to have confusing feelings about that I have no idea what to do with now.” He continued as he stared blankly to the side.

“Hey, Arc? You there?” Weiss snapped her fingers in front of him to catch his attention.

“Hmm? Yeah my bad.” Jaune said as his eyes snapped back to reality.

“Good,” Weiss said as she pulled her hand down from where she had been waving it in his face. “The autograph isn’t really anything though. Is there anything else I can offer?”

“Hmmmm…” Jaune thought for a moment. “Well if you’re offering would you be willing to lend me a couple of dust crystals for combat class tomorrow?”

That would be easy enough and no trouble besides, “Done.” Weiss put out a hand and Arc shook it. “What kind of dust do you need?” With this Weiss’ debt to the bumbling knight would be paid in full and her conscience could kindly shut up. Might still need to be careful what she said around people in the future though.

\--HoH--

Cardin was having a damn good week. That last prank had gone off without a hitch. Sure people and professors had suspected but no one could prove a damn thing. He had finally properly shown up that freak and his pet lizard and even managed to get his little gutter trash girlfriend in the deal too. Now to cap everything off to this amazing week he was actually being picked to fight Arc in combat class. He could put the little imitation in his place and show everyone that he had no place here with a real huntsman, no a real MAN like Cardin around.

Cardin made his way to stand in the center of the arena as he swung his mace back and forth in front of him to loosen his shoulders with a smug smirk on his face. Arc, the little coward, had finally joined him and Goodbitch in the arena and the idiot didn’t even have the good sense to bring his weapons with him.

“You skip the ears and get a rabbit’s brain instead Arc?” Cardin taunted as he rested his mace across his shoulders. “Shouldn’t you have your weapon with you? Or are you finally showing some sense and throwing in the towel already?”

“I’ve got everything I need to deal with someone like you here already Cardin.” Arc bit back with something approaching a spine. Well that just wouldn’t do. Cardin was about to continue trash talking the freak when the prissy professor had to stick her nose in.

“That is  _ enough _ out of both of you. Now you will each treat this fight and your opponent with respect or I swear I will fail you both in every class for the next week.” Goodbitch belted out at both of them. Cardin couldn’t understand why she was getting on his case too. It wasn’t his fault the animal in disguise didn’t know his place. That was ok though, Cardin would take this time to teach him properly.

“BEGIN!”

Arc moved to rush in but Cardin was having none of that today as he reached out and clenched his fist as if he was crushing something in his grip while his semblance worked its magic. Bind really was all kinds of handy, especially against opponents like Belladona that liked to dance around. As long as he kept his fist clenched his opponent was stuck wherever he held them, paralyzed. Someone sufficiently strong could break out but the only ones who had managed so far had been the instructors at Signal and that bitch Xiao Long after he had wailed on her for a while with his mace. Yeah she had broken free and won but still he’d gotten his payback for her ditching him in the middle of the date without even having the decency to put out first.

Arc though, Arc had no chance as he stood stock still while Cardin walked up to him calmly whistling a jaunty tune, took his mace in one hand while binding Arc with the other, and started making an example. One strike and already Cardin could see contusions forming up the animal’s arms, another and a flood of crimson poured down his face from a broken nose, the third had Cardin concentrating aura through the red crystal in the center of his mace and just let the flame run wild as he burned Arc mercilessly in a great pyre. He would stop when the professor called the match but until then he was Cardin’s. Or that’s how it should’ve been.

Cardin felt something forcing his hand open. That… that shouldn’t happen Arc was a weakling who could take a hit but had gotten in by riding the coattails of his pet. Cardin squeezed tighter as he increased the intensity of the flame, he refused to be shown up and made to put effort in against a lesser creature. Arc would LEARN. HIS. PLACE. Then Cardin got struck by lightning.

The unexpected bolt of electricity flashed through the pillar of flame striking Cardin dead on and ragdolled him as he spasmed from the electricity. He dropped his mace and his semblance and the flames sputtered out. There was that bastard Arc glowing white and looking none the worse for wear. The bruises and broken nose healed already and golden sparks of electricity danced over his form as Cardin realized what had happened. The cheater had palmed a lightning dust crystal in each hand to make Cardin think he was unarmed. It was a dirty trick and it wouldn’t work twice against him.

Surging forward Cardin Bound Arc again but watched in shock and mounting horror as his hand was slowly pried open and Arc barely slowed down. “You know Cardin,” Arc opened as he continued stalking his way towards Cardin with a small smile on his face and the sparks of electricity growing out to actual bolts that danced around him before grounding into the earth. “I hope you’ll forgive me but even if I’m gonna enjoy this I don’t really have time to waste on you. I think I’ll end this in a hurry.”

From that moment Cardin’s world was a blur of motion, light, and aura muted pain as Arc didn’t beat him, no this was different. Arc completely dismantled Cardin, great arcs of electricity connecting the two and shocking Cardin before Arc’s fist followed behind it like some kind of demented tether pulling him forward. Each blow struck like a sledgehammer denting Cardin’s armor through his aura as Arc refused to let up. It was quite possibly the most intense few seconds of his life and as Cardin lay there on the ground that cheater Arc was announced the winner leaving an angry and embarrassed Cardin where he lay. 

That fight didn’t count, it had only gone that way because that jackass Arc had pulled a dirty trick and cheated. Well he’d get his in the end. Cardin would have his payback and he knew just the right time for it too. Arc better watch his back during the Forever Fall trip, because Cardin Winchester would not forget this insult.

  
  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Hey everybody! Hope you enjoyed the new chapter. It was a blast to write! Especially the fight scene at the start and the Ruby and Demiveemon segments. Also yes Jaune does still have his canon semblance, he just hasn’t realized he can amp other people’s auras yet too. No super extensive author’s note this time. Just a heads up the rewrite/ editing of the early chapters is finished and uploaded as well, go check it out. There are some new scenes, cleaned up wording, and better editing to make it a smoother, more enjoyable read. Next release will be chapter 3 of When The Search Ends so I hope you all look forward to that and I hope you have a great day! Take care and don’t forget to love each other!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Expect uploads to slow down after this, you are now caught up to what I have on the other sites. Next upload should be this coming Friday and then every other week after that.

**I OWN NOTHING. THANKS FOR READING!**

**WARNING STRONG LANGUAGE THIS CHAPTER!**

  
  
  


The Forever Fall was one of the most beautiful things Jaune had ever seen, in a strange and almost haunting way. For some unexplained reason, everything in this forest, all the plant life, was a deep, dark shade of crimson red. This unique trait had apparently been what earned it the name Forever Fall, according to Professor Goodwitch who was explaining what they would be doing here.

“I am aware of the Forever Fall’s beauty students, but I would recommend that you maintain proper vigilance. It is still infested by creatures of Grimm and large herds are known to migrate through the area.” The strict deputy headmistress informed the group as they walked through the vermillion forest.

That actually confused Jaune a bit. They were decently far enough away from any settlements, so Grimm shouldn’t be too much of an issue in the area. What could draw them to this far awa- oh. Ms. Goodwitch was explaining. Oops. 

“Red sap from these trees can attract the creatures of Grimm so they tend to congregate in the area. You will each be gathering a jar of the sap for Professor Peach to study to gain a better understanding of this phenomena.” Goodwitch paused for a moment after her explanation, to Jaune it almost seemed like she was mulling something over in her head before continuing. “Once you have gathered your requisite jars of sap you are permitted, if you so choose, to gather any more for the use of consumption or the making of confections.”

Huh, well that would be pretty cool. Maybe he and Ren could bake a cake or something with it? Jaune turned to suggest just such a thing to his teammate when he caught sight of Nora and Guilmon and stiffened in sudden dread. Both were now staring off into the middle distance, jaws slack and blatantly salivating. For a brief moment Jaune could’ve sworn he could see the image of the red sap replace the pupils in their eyes like some kind of Saturday morning cartoon. 

Turning, Jaune looked to their sister team for help or advice with his two catatonic teammates, just to see team RWBY stuck in a similar situation with their own leader. Yang quietly snickering at the state of her younger sister while a dumbfounded Weiss waved her hand in front of the red headed reaper’s face. Ok this was getting ridiculous, “Alright come on guys,” Jaune tried to reason. Commanding, he needed to be commanding. “Let’s get the assignment done. Is red sap actually that big of a deal anyway?”

“Jaune-Jaune,” oh holy crap that was a lot of  _ very _ serious Nora right up in his face. “Red sap is delicious. It is the most perfect type of sweet in the world. It’s what maple syrup  _ WANTS TO BE _ when it grows up. You can only get it here in the entire world and only huntsmen can harvest it because of the Grimm that fill the forest. Red syrup is the most decadent, high end, expensive, rare sweet in the world. WE CAN GATHER JARS OF IT FOR OURSELVES.”

“Okay, okay!” Jaune laughed as he took a step back from his sugar addicted friend, hands raised in surrender. “The assignment first though. After that we’ll gather as much as we have time for. Me and Ren will bake a cake or cookies or something with it. Sound good?” Jaune bargained with his friends.

“Wait,” Ren cut in surprised, huh, Jaune was getting better at recognising the quiet boy’s tells. That was nice. “You can bake? I can’t.”

Wait what, “Really? But you’re the cooking guy! You cook way better than I do!”

“Yes because Nora is bad at it and Rena has to do huntress work sometimes so she wasn't always home.” Ren calmly explained. “But I don’t bake.”

“The closest he comes to making sweets is pancakes.” Nora cut in as the group went about their work. “Last time he tried to bake a cake it was rock hard on all the edges, and somehow still goopy in the middle. He tries though.” Nora finished as Jaune watched her gently pat Ren on the shoulder as they went about tapping the tree.

“I’m more surprised you know how to cook and bake Arc.” He heard a biting voice cut in from a few trees down. Yep, it was Weiss, the heiress grunted with some small frustration about two trees down from him while Yang and Pyrrha seemed to be working together in between the two of them.

“Seven sisters remember?” Jaune explained snarkily. “I can sew and dance too. I’m also good at cleaning and handyman work.” Jaune looked down the way at the visibly frustrated snow fairy as he said it, and wow Pyrrha was really smiley with whatever she and Yang were whispering about. Ho ho, Jaune might need to keep an eye on that. Maybe Pyrrha had a crush? He’d see about trying to wingman for the two later.

“I’m sure you’ll make someone a wonderful wife someday Arc.” Oh yeah he and Weiss were sniping at each other, being nosy about his partner’s love life could be saved for later. 

“I mean I do look really good in white,” Jaune joked as he smiled back. “Plus you should see my legs in a dress.”

“WHAAAAAAAT was that?” Nora’s voice called out with just a little excitement. 

Jaune stiffened as he realized what he had just said. Oh no. “Nothing Nora! Nothing at all!” Turning Jaune looked to Guilmon and did his best to send a message to his brother whether it be from his eyes, body language, or a telepathic link. For the love of Color and Dust, please don’t tell this story.

Jaune nearly sighed in relief as Gui, his digimon, his partner, his brother in every way that really mattered, nodded confidently with a reassuring smile on his face. Then Gui spoke, “Jaune’s sisters used to use him to play dress up all the time. I have pictures.”

“Traitor!” Jaune cried at the gross breach of trust. What about the sibling code!? Oh shit, wait, sibling code encourages teasing. Dammit. 

“Oooooohhhhh, pictures you say?” Nora cut in as she darted towards the red dragon.

“Yup,” Guilmon nodded as he grinned at the excitable ginger. “Pictures as recent as two years back. They quit a little while after he turned fifteen. Check’em out.”

Jaune watched with mounting horror and red eared embarrassment as Gui’s goggles flashed blue for a moment and Nora’s scroll dinged to show a message received. “Oh! My! KNIGHTS! JAUNE YOU WERE SO CUTE! RUBY! PYRRHA! COME LOOK AT THIS!”

Jaune sighed in resignation, as not just Pyrrha and Ruby but literally all the girls in their friend group went to look at the pictures. “Can you at least tell me which pictures you sent?” Jaune asked Gui with a slight whimper as the crimson dinosaur smirked up at him.

“The folder with the blue and red ones.” Guilmon answered nonchalantly as he watched the two teams giggle around the scroll while Ren, the only one Jaune could trust, continued to fill jars with sap. Wait.

“From when Violette used me as a mannequin when she was making Indigo’s prom dress?” Jaune asked incredulously as he stared down at the smug lizard. “Why that one?”

“Your hair was long enough for a braid back then and she put makeup on you too.” Gui answered simply as he shrugged. Jaune felt his face burn even hotter in response as the blush spread.

“Huh, not bad Jaune.” Blake calmly called back as she stared down at Nora’s scroll and seemed to be writing  _ something _ in her own scroll at the same time….. Oh this better not end up in another one of her *amateur fiction* stories. 

“I’m honestly surprised VB, who knew you could actually pull off long hair and a dress.” Yang called back in some small disbelief as Nora furiously flipped back and forth between the photos as she smiled and blushed.

“Thank you, thank you both so much.” Jaune ground out between clenched teeth as they kept cooing over the pictures. “Can you all help with gathering sap please? You know, the entire reason we’re out here?”

“Shhhh, just a minute Jaune,” Ruby called back, brushing him off. “This is more important. Oh wow how were you able to walk in heels that tall? I can barely move in lady stilts.”

Jaune needed something,  _ anything _ , to take the attention off the photos and distract the girls for a moment. He needed something cute. Cute, cuddly, small, excitable…. Wait a second. “Hey Pyrrha?”

“Yes Jaune?” Pyrrha answered, clearly not paying any close attention to what he was saying. 

“Where’s Demi?” Jaune questioned as he looked around for the little guy. Seriously this was a terrible place for him to wander around by himself. He was still only in the training phase.

“Oh,” Pyrrha responded, this time picking her head up in what Jaune could only assume was understanding. “Don’t worry, Ms. Goodwitch offered to look after him while we were working on this.”

“*This* being staring at pictures of me in a dress?” Jaune challenged mustering all of his commanding aura as a natural leader.

“Yep, uh-huh, that and getting the red sap.” Pyrrha called back absently. Jaune could only sigh in defeat as he took another jar and got to work.

That moment the awkward, yet peaceful scene was shattered by the sound of breaking glass and angry buzzing.

\--HoH--

Glynda honestly loved these little forays to the Forever Fall with students. It was a good excuse to get out of the office and away from Ozpin’s insanity for a day here and there. Plus this way she could top off her own supply of red sap and she had a contact in the city who would refine it into proper syrup for thirty percent of the product to sell himself. A perfectly profitable venture for the both of them.

It was also a good chance for the students to stretch their legs outside of the academy and kingdom as well. Sparring with each other was all well and good, and incredibly important practice. After all, there was no shortage of human and faunus enemies for huntsmen to deal with as well, but it was good for them to remember who the true enemy was. The creatures of Grimm loved this forest, greedy sap-sucking hellspawn, and it served as an opportunity to keep their skills sharp against the monsters that would always be scratching at the door.

Still, this particular trip had the added wrinkle of her new little friend being along for the ride, as Glynda kept an eye on him. Demi was being a model citizen so far, he hadn’t run off or tried to bother the students while they worked, and so Glynda allowed him a small sampling of the red sap. Enough to be a nice treat for the little mon but not put him off his lunch later.

Glynda was filling her ninth jar when her scroll started ringing, signaling the bane of her existence. Ozpin needed something again. “Glynda speaking.” She answered the scroll quickly, her every manner the very picture of professionalism.

“Yes, well I should hope so,” Ozpin chuckled as he quietly sipped from his mug. “How goes the mission?”

“The students are performing as well as can be expected.” Glynda answered as she scanned the forest and took in what she could see of her students at work. “There have yet to be any engagements with the creatures of Grimm, but I have warned them to keep an eye out.”

“Very good, I’m happy to hear that our future huntsmen and huntresses are acquitting themselves well.” Ozpin took advantage of the momentary lull between sentences to once again sip at his mug and Glynda spotted the telltale aversion of his eyes in the video call. Warning her that he would finally get to the point of this call and that she would not appreciate it. “Tell me Glynda, would you happen to know where the budget forms in regards to vendor spacing for the Vytal Festival are?”

“Ozpin.” Glynda deadpanned as she stared imperiously down at the scroll. “That was supposed to be submitted to the council for review two weeks ago.”

“Oh? Was it?” Ozpin asked innocently, hiding the lower part of his face behind his cocoa mug. Glynda just continued her deadpan stare as the IMMORTAL WIZARD who couldn’t be bothered to remember his paperwork squirmed in his seat. “Well I will take care of that just as soon as I remember where I put it.”

Glynda watched nonplussed as Ozpin made a great show of searching through the papers strewed haphazardly around his desk, before he coughed and continued speaking, not meeting her eyes. “I- *ahem* I don’t suppose you would happen to know where those papers might be?” He asked meekly.

“Well Ozpin,” Glynda began, very pointedly  _ not _ letting any of her frustration or anger seep into her tone, once again the very picture of professionalism. “The last I saw of them I had just left them on your desk, after making sure that you had seen them, knew what they were for, and when they were due. That was three weeks ago.”

“I see,” Ozpin began and then fell silent for a moment as Glynda looked down at him one eyebrow raised. “...I don’t suppose you could find it if I pointed the scroll at the desk and let you look?” He asked, hope clear in his voice.

“Ozpin. I am fifty miles away in a Grimm infested forest taking care of students.” Glynda deadpanned as the headmaster squirmed uncomfortably. “I fully believe in your capability as a millenia old immortal with powers well beyond mere mortals and decades upon decades of experience as headmaster of the academy to  _ do your job _ for one afternoon.”

“*Ahem* Yes, quite right Glynda. I will get right on that.” The headmaster gulped as he began looking through the papers on his desk once more.

“I’m sure you will Ozpin.” Glynda sighed as she prepared to end the call. “Now if you don’t mind I have a forest full of students to look after.”

Glynda had her finger hovering over the end call button just as Ozpin’s voice cut through one last time. “Also just so you know, Port managed to destroy another classroom and all the furniture inside. Apparently there were some issues with his attempts to craft an obstacle course filled with Grimm to train the students. I believe he was calling it... Fort Port? Anyway that will need to be taken care of when you get back. Enjoy the rest of the mission.”

Glynda stared down at the blank screen of her scroll and if anyone noticed her eye twitching at the final reveal, well, they would obviously be mistaken because Glynda Goodwitch simply didn’t do such things and they should be taking care of their assignment. Especially if they knew what was good for them. Glynda breathed in deeply through her nose before slowly letting it out through clenched teeth. Her anger was for Ozpin and Port. She would not take it out on her students and definitely not Demiveemon.

Once her temper was reeled back in, Glynda calmly looked up to where she had left the young mon only to find him missing. “Demi?” Glynda called as she looked in the clearing they had taken up residence in at the moment. But there was no response and he was nowhere to be found.

“Demi?” Glynda called out as she began to search and did her best to keep calm. He was surely just playing again. He had a terrible tendency towards hiding behind things so he could jump out and scare people. Glynda had tried to warn him off of it but it had been slow going. But as she searched and called out, there was still no sign of the tiny mon.

“DEMI!?” Glynda shouted as the icy grip of terror wrapped around her heart. Where was he? She had warned him not to wander off! The forest was full of Grimm! When she found him she would give him a piece of her mind for scaring her like this. She would… She would… Oh by the Brothers. Glynda prayed he was alright as the fear turned towards panic and she ran through the forest looking for him.

Glynda felt her heart nearly stop along with her body as the sound of breaking glass and screaming reached her ears.

\--HoH--

Now Demiveemon wasn’t certain… but this might be the second best place ever after Beacon and beating out the other forest making it third place now. The red forest was so coooool. It was red! The same color as Guilmon’s scales and Pyrrha’s hair and the trees were filled with candy! The Nice Glasses Lady who was apparently named Glynda had let him try some and it was sooooo good. But then she had to go take a call, and Pyrrha had warned Demi that it was rude to listen in when people were on a call, and it was going on forever, and he was getting bored, so Demi decided to explore!

So far the exploration had been awesome! He had already found two different rocks shaped like his head! Well one of them was kinda shaped like his head if he put it a certain way and he looked at it from a certain direction. The other one didn’t really look like his head at all but it was still REALLY cool, all brown and grey and rocky.

Demi thought he had finally found something interesting when he heard someone talking a little ways away and ran towards it. Maybe it would be Pyrrha or they would be friends with Pyrrha!

It was a group of four boys sitting in a circle. One of them had hair the same color blue as Demi and that was the coolest thing ever! Demiveemon moved to get closer to the boy so he could tell him so and then he heard what they were saying. 

“Sky, Russel, you guys got the rapier wasps ready right?” Questioned the boy with the greasy, slicked back brown hair. “Soon as we catch sight of them we’ll throw the jar at Arc and his pet freak and we can let the wasps loose. It’s about time he got what was coming to him.”

“What are you giving to him?” Demiveemon asked as he got closer to the group causing two of them to yelp in surprise as they turned to face him. “Are you friends with Jaune? I don’t think he has a pet. Aunty Glynda says they’re not allowed in the dorms unless they’re getting huntsman training too. Do you all know Pyrrha? She’s my partner! She’s the bestest person in the whoooole world. I know so.”

"The hell is that!?" Screamed the boy with hair that was green like a palmon as he turned to look at Demiveemon, who smiled and waved in return. Pyrrha had told him that when meeting someone new, it was always best to introduce yourself and then smile and wave.

"Ignore it," the boy with the brown hair scoffed. Well that was mean. "It's team JNPR's new pet freak. Apparently they're collecting them now." The boy with brown hair explained to his friends before turning back to Demiveemon. 

“No we’re not friends with your little band of freaks and losers. Now get away from me,” growled the brown haired boy as glared down at Demi.

Well that wasn’t very nice. All Demi had asked was if they were friends with Jaune and Pyrrha. Wait, “If you’re not friends with Jaune and Pyrrha then what are you planning to give Jaune? Pyrrha says gifts are something friends give each other. Are you sure you’re not friends?”

“No we’re not friends,” the brown haired boy said in a funny voice as he scrunched up his face in a really weird way. “Sky, get rid of this thing for me while I get ready to hit Arc with the payback.”

Seeing the boy with hair the same shade of blue as Demi’s skin reach for him, Demi rushed forward dashing between his legs and grabbing the jar of red candy he had seen the brown haired boy reaching for. Turning Demi stuck his tongue out at the older boy while hugging the jar to his torso, "If you're not friends then you're planning to do something mean! I won't let you be mean to my friends!" And with that Demiveemon was off like a light.

He couldn't properly outrun the group of boys with their long legs but he could still keep away from them thanks to his small size as he ducked between long legs and kicked off of body parts to propel himself forward and throw the boys off balance. All good things come to an end though, and finally with a loud yell the brown haired boy lunged forward, grabbing Demi in both arms and ripping the jar from his grasp!

"Hey!" The tiny digimon protested as the brown haired boy tossed him unceremoniously on the ground. "Give it back! I'm not gonna let you be mean to Jaune or Pyrrha!" Demiveemon promised as he wrapped himself around the brown haired boy's leg and tried to bite at the ankle and calf. 

"Oh, get off me!" The brown haired boy shouted as he kicked his leg out trying to shake the determined Demi loose. "I. Said. Let. Go!"

If anything else was said after that Demi didn't hear it as he felt a sharp pain in his middle and his body left the ground rocketing into the bushes behind him. It wasn't all bad though. The bushes were surprisingly soft for bushes and Demi could feel the surge of energy he had been waiting for fill him completely. Demi felt his flesh and bone twist and grow rapidly while the light of digivolution enclosed him.

\--HoH--

"CARDIN WHAT THE HELL MAN!?" Cardin heard Russel scream behind him as he stared dumbfounded into the foliage that Nikos’ pet had flown into.

Oh shit, oh shit, Cardin hadn't meant to hit the little guy that hard. “I was just trying to knock him loose!” Cardin defended himself as he turned to his team. Sky, Russel, and Dove were all looking at him in mounting horror and it wasn’t supposed to be this way. They were just going to put that freak Arc in his place and that was gonna be it.

“Cardin it’s a freaking baby!” Sky shot back as he looked to the bushes and started walking forward.

“I know! It was an accident!” Cardin promised desperately. “I mean he’s probably fine right? They all get their auras unlocked right?” Cardin did his best to reason, but any and all arguments were rendered moot by Sky’s next response.

“IT’S STILL A FUCKING BABY!!” Oh hell Sky was right. Cardin darted after his blue haired teammate towards the bushes the digimon had flown into trying to see if he could find him.

What Cardin got for his trouble though was knocked on his ass as a blue blur barreled out of the underbrush and caught him center mass just below the cuirass. Cardin gasped in pain as all the air was forcefully expelled from his lungs and he was flung back by the hard strike to his belly. 

Cardin groaned as he looked up from his prone position to see what exactly had hit him. “I’m Veemon now and I refuse to let you do anything mean to my friends!” 

Huh, apparently it wasn’t a baby anymore. He forgot they could do that. Where before the creature had been small and kinda cat and lizard like at the same time it was now… well not much bigger but still taller than before. Coming up just past Cardin’s waist and it appeared to be some kind of lizard man now. It had powerfully built arms and legs and a small horn jutting from its nose with that same blue and white pattern covering its body in scales.

“Okay Sky, are you happy now? It’s not a baby anymore.” Cardin groaned from his position on the ground. Holy crap that had been a solid hit. Little monster had some strength in him. Time to show him what humans could do though. 

“CRDL! Hold him back while I go through with the plan!.” Cardin called out to his team as he picked himself up and moved to the jar and the bag of wasps. 

“No you don’t!” Cardin heard the slightly high-pitched, nasally voice of the monster call out and holy shit the little bastard was fast! Cardin jerked back as he caught sight of the blue lizard lunging towards him.

What happened next was a series of events that Cardin would continue to call bullshit on years later. Somehow in the process of him stepping back with both the sap and the wasps in hand to avoid the blue digimon, he managed to step on Executioner’s handle sending him ass over teakettle. He then proceeded to drop the bag of wasps and fling the jar of sap directly into the air above him. The blue digimon managed to land on his chest. And then the jar of sap shattered over both of them, dousing them both in the sticky substance. Then came the angry buzzing of the wasps and Cardin’s world was pain as he reflexively wrapped the digimon in his arms and rolled to try and crush the wasps covering the both of them.

Cardin thought he finally had a moment’s reprieve when the buzzing sound finally stopped and he couldn’t feel any fresh stings. Then he heard the roar of Grimm nearby and realized the fuckening had just begun.

\--HoH--

Nora jumped in surprise as she heard the shattering of glass and the sound of screams coming from nearby. All at once like a well oiled machine both teams JGNPR and RWBY broke apart and grabbed their respective weapons, arming up before jumping into the fray. A short sprint at the sound of a Grimm’s roar and Nora and the others came upon the sight of Cardin hugging Demiveemon? Except he wasn’t really Demi anymore since he was bigger now and for some reason the two were covered in welts and oh hey that was an entire herd of ursas just behind them.

Nora tightened her grip on Magnhild as she felt her grin widen at the impending battle. Such a target rich environment and her with a full set of grenades. Maybe she could find Cornelius the third somewhere out there. Actually no that wouldn’t be necessary Cornelius the second was still a fine and trusty steed, no reason to put him out to pasture just yet. Actually speaking of Cornelius the second, Nora looked to Jaune-Jaune to see if her leader had any orders.

“JNPR! Prioritize keeping team CRDL and Demi safe! Stay on me! We’re going to try and thin their numbers with Wonderwall!” Jaune called out with an actual commanding presence. He was actually getting kinda good at that Nora mused, as she and the rest of the team grouped up on Jaune as he ran towards and then past CRDL. Nora had to stifle a giggle, it was hard to believe this was the same guy who had just been blushing and stammering as she looked at photos of him wearing a dress. Which to be fair he had honestly rocked. Oh wait, Jauney was doing the thing. It was time to kill the Grimm.

Nora watched and felt her grin pull wider as he dropped to a knee and erected a chest high barrier of solid cyan light wide enough across for all of them to hide behind as Nora and the rest mechashifted their weapons to gun mode and formed a firing line. Wonderwall was probably Nora’s second favorite of the team maneuvers they had come up with so far after Heart Shaped Box, just because of the fact that it actively encouraged her to fire Magnhild as much and as fast as she could. Which Nora proceeded to do as she aimed forward and unloaded into the crowd of Grimm.

An unexpected bang to Nora’s left showed Ruby firing into the herd of ursa with a determined smile that contrasted the wide, battle ready grin Nora knew covered her own face. Apparently team RWBY had decided to join them at the wall as the field in front of the two teams became a cacophony (thank you word a day calendar) of the sharp bangs of rifles and shotguns, the familiar rat-tat-tat of Stormflower, the continuous roar of De-Rezz, the dull thunk of Magnhild firing, and almost lost in it was that odd sound Weiss’ glyphs made when she used them to shoot things. It was all like pshew, but it was also ahhhh, and it was also like a bell ringing. Like it was kinda weird.

Nora could barely see past the light and smoke from explosives and bullets hitting as well as dust effects taking place as Grimm spasmed with electricity before dissolving to smoke while others burst into flame or were skewered by spines made of stone and ice and completely run through. It really was brutal, just goes to show you can never underestimate the strength and efficacy (word of the day before) of overwhelming firepower.

Eventually the ammo finally ran out as everyone’s weapons sounded with the telltale click of being empty. Nora watched still tensed as the smoke on the battlefield cleared. The space in front of the wall was a mess of craters and furroughs pockmarking the earth and the rapidly dissolving bodies of ursa. Nora felt her stomach plummet though, as the clearing smoke revealed behind the pile of its destroyed friends the largest Ursa Major Nora had ever seen. It stood easily three times as tall as Jaune and was covered in bone plating and spikes. This thing  _ had _ to be ancient. 

Nora gulped as she readied for the fight that came next and without a word being said the two teams split and reconvened in a tight circle around team CRDL. “Don’t worry guys,” she heard Jaune assure the group as Russel, Sky, and Dove readied their own weapons and took up positions alongside the two teams. 

With all those currently fit to fight at the ready, Jaune did something Nora had never seen before. He collapsed his shield and stabbed the sheath into the earth as he took his sword in both hands. It was when Nora spared a glance down and back that she realized what he was doing. With his heel firmly pressed against the sheath of Gardien Rouge Nora saw a dome of cyan energy wrap around Cardin and Veemon, one, two, three layers thick, and Nora knew what it was for. A last line of defense should they be unable to kill the monster or fall before any help could arrive. 

“No matter what it doesn’t reach the wounded, yeah?” Jaune asked in a way that was really more of an order and Nora could feel tension thick in his voice. Everyone nodded and Nora tightened her grip on Magnhild, they needed to hold the line.

With that somber thought in mind, Nora faced back towards the Ursa Major and prepared the lightning dust in Magnhild’s hammer to boost herself when the time was right. One hundred feet away and to her right Russel’s daggers erupted in flame as he channeled the dust inside them. Eighty feet away and Yang’s eyes flashed red and Nora knew she was preparing to Burn. Fifty feet away and Gardien Rouge had been wrapped in hardlight changing it from a simple arming sword to a massive greatsword as she saw the familiar glow of Aura Amp burst from beneath Jaune’s skin.

At twenty feet away Nora felt her jaw drop in shock, as the ursa suddenly lifted into the air before being slammed down with earth shaking force. That wasn’t an exaggeration, Nora actually felt the ground shake when the monster hit the forest floor before being lifted and slammed again and again and again. From the corner of her eye Nora saw Professor Goodwitch step past them towards the creature, slamming it into the ground again with every wave of her crop.

“Overwhelming force is an incredibly viable tactic, children,” Goodwitch began as Nora and the rest slowly lowered their weapons in awe. “But it is important to remember to always keep a little in reserve. Just in case.” And with that Nora watched as Glynda uprooted a tree from the forest floor before sending it rocketing forward. Impaling the giant Grimm and killing it instantly.

“Now,” Glynda continued as she turned towards them. “Would anyone be willing to tell me what exactly- OH MY BROTHERS DEMI!!” Glynda shouted as she caught sight of the injured digimon behind the cyan bubble.

“Heh-heh,” Nora watched as the digimon winced while painfully raising an arm to wave at the panicked professor. “Hey Aunty Glynda. I think I can have my aura unlocked now.”

\--HoH--

“ _ For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. _

_ Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. _

_ Infinite in distance and unbound by death, _

_ I release you soul, and by my shoulder, _

_ Protect thee.” _

Jaune watched as Pyrrha unlocked her partner’s aura, the golden glow encompassing the blue digimon before settling back into his skin and already Jaune could see the rapier wasp stings begin to fade. 

Jaune wasn’t sure what exactly had happened in the forest that led to Demi and Cardin getting stung all over by rapier wasps, but he was willing to hazard a guess that it wasn’t anything good. That train of thought however was cut off by a knock on JNPR’s door.

Opening the door revealed the contrite form of Cardin Winchester in casual clothes sans uniform or armor. Ooooookay? “What do you want Cardin?” Jaune asked brusquely as he looked up at the larger boy.

“Could we talk in private? I have something I need to say before I chicken out or change my mind” Cardin asked quietly as he glanced over Jaune’s shoulder to the rest of the team before gesturing to the hallway behind him.

Taking a quick look behind him Jaune saw the rest of his team split between concern, curiosity, and just glowering at Cardin. Well aside from Veemon who waved with his eyes closed as the red stings continued to fade. 

“Yeah that might be best.” Jaune acknowledged as he shut the door behind him and stepped out into the hallway.

With that Jaune followed as Cardin set off down the hallway not seeming to be heading anywhere in particular. “So what did you want to talk about Cardin?” Jaune asked as he once again caved to the awkward silence.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry, Arc.” Cardin said quietly as he continued walking and staring forward, not making eye contact with Jaune.

Jaune stared in disbelief at the larger boy as he dipped his apologetically. What? “Why? Like why are you apologizing? This is kind of out of nowhere.”

“I…. saw myself doing something I almost couldn’t take back, and despite everything I’ve done to you, your team, and your cousin since the semester started, you all still turned around to save me. Me and my boys both, and it would be wrong not to act on that. So I’m offering my sincerest apologies and I promise to never bother you or yours again.” Jaune watched dumbstruck as Cardin stopped walking and his nod turned into a stiff formal bow at the waist before raising his head and reaching out to offer Jaune a handshake.

“Apology accepted,” Jaune admitted begrudgingly as he took Cardin’s hand. “It’s what any of us would have done. We’re huntsmen, protecting people from monsters is what we do yeah?”

“Yeah,” Cardin smiled back quietly. “Yeah I guess it is. Apologize to Demi for me too if you don’t mind?”

With that the two split off, Cardin going to do his own thing and Jaune returning to his own dorm. Waving off the questions and concerns of his team when he returned with the simple promise that he had handled it.

Jaune doubted he would ever become friends with Cardin, and it was debatable when if ever he would genuinely forgive him, but maybe now he would at least leave well enough alone and Jaune could have things go back to normal. Or. Well. Whatever passed for normal at Beacon.

Jaune smiled to himself and reclined on his bed as the rest of the team surrounded Demi for questions about his digivolution and what had happened. The lizard man had actually been surprisingly tight lipped since they had found him with Cardin though. Jaune wasn’t terribly worried about it regardless, the young mon was more than welcome to a few secrets of his own as long as they didn’t hurt the team.

For now, Jaune was more worried about planning new training programs to account for the Veemon, now that he would become a member of the team proper. There would need to be hand to hand practice, aura manipulation training, weapon disciplines, dust theory, and plenty of other subjects that most people learn in years. Not immediately. Still they were a team and Jaune was team leader. He would make sure to help Demi get up to snuff Jaune swore to himself confidently. He couldn’t help feeling like he was forgetting something though…

“Ohhhh Jaaaauuune-Jaaaaaauuuune…….” Sing-songed the voice of Nora in a teasing lilt as she held up both her scroll and a jar of red sap, one in each hand. 

Oh shit, the cake! Jaune needed to start working on the cake before Nora started flipping through the photos with team RWBY again! “

“G-going Nora!” Jaune stammered as he grabbed the jar of sap and headed towards the kitchen, already looking up red sap cake recipes on his scroll. And if the smile on his face seemed genuine rather than nervous or forced when Nora walked alongside him towards the kitchen neither of them commented on it.

  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTES:**

**Hey y’all welcome to the end of the first official arc of Huntsman of the Digital Hazard lol. Not as long as some of my other stuff but I feel it’s as long as it needs to be. All the big moments and build up of my VERY long Jaundiced arc hit right here and now it was just climax and wrapping everything up. I thought about extending the conversation between Jaune and Cardin a bit but honestly a heart to heart wouldn’t have fit and I think both of them acknowledge that it would be unwanted compared to a simple genuine apology and then never do it again. I hope y’all are excited for the next arc as we head into some original content for team JNPR. For those of you that follow it the next chapter of When The Search Ends should be up next Friday. I hope you all have a great day and don’t forget to love each other.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. You are now caught up to my regular posting schedule! You can expect new chapters of this every other Friday barring anything happening. I will add the story I've been working on during the alternate weeks soon as well. Thanks for reading!

**I OWN NOTHING! PLEASE ENJOY!**

  
  


"V-Headbutt!"

Jaune sidestepped the telegraphed attack, a leg trailing behind to trip the digimon while his left hand followed through and tapped the digimon on the back of the head. The motion both adding to and redirecting Demi's momentum to send him into a head over heels tumble that ended with the blue digimon flat on his back, and staring at the ceiling. Jaune smiled down at the little digimon who simply stared past him up at the ceiling, obviously trying to keep the mounting frustration off his face.

“So what did we learn?” Jaune heard a sardonic voice ask from behind him as Fox Alistair came up to join him on the practice mats.

“Jaune is good at throwing people?” The lizard man asked sarcastically as he continued to stare up and ignore the two.

“That could be it.” Fox nodded agreeably down at their current student while offering him a hand up. “Or it could be that you telegraph so hard even a blind man could see it. Ask me how I know.”

Jaune stifled a chuckle at the joke as Demi took the offered hand up. In all honesty the digimon was doing  _ very  _ well. He had only digivolved halfway through the semester and now that they were nearing the end he could probably hold his own pretty well against the average beowulf. It probably helped that, of the various special techniques that digimon had while Guilmon just had the two to fall back on, Veemon apparently had, like, a dozen, and they were all geared towards hand to hand combat.

Really, his biggest problem was just what Fox had said. The little lizard telegraphed just way too hard when he used his techniques. Guilmon had that issue a bit early on too but he had also had an easier time breaking the habit. Maybe one of the others would have an idea? Jaune turned and looked to the other two members of their little sparring club, seeing Yang and Ren go through their forms together. 

The two faced each other as they slowly moved, each mirroring the other’s movements. Yang held her hands up, palms open and forward in defiance of her usual boxer’s stance and slowly threw a hand towards Ren as he did the same. Each used the free hand not to block or catch but gently turn the attacking hand aside and down before turning with the momentum and throwing a slow backspin into kicks that met at the calf mid air. The two continued the slow movements as each blow was countered and the sequence they worked on etched itself into their muscle and bone as they slowly sped up.

Wait… “Hey Demi,” Jaune called the young mon over to join him. “Take a break and come watch the practice with me. I have an idea.” Jaune settled on the ground cross legged as the veemon joined him, the digimon leaning back on his hands and tail with his legs splayed out in front of him. And then the two simply watched Ren and Yang move.

Jaune loved watching kata practice like this. The grand motions and smooth sweeping grace that would be violent attacks at proper speed in a real fight. Here it was gentle and slow, almost like a dance, and it certainly looked the part even as the two sped up. Still meeting each and every blow perfectly and their breath maintaining the same tempo that Ren had insisted on first when they had asked him and Fox for tips on advanced aura manipulation. To Jaune’s frustration he still hadn’t taken to the technique well, though it seemed Yang very much had. At least his striking techniques were improving thanks to the lessons.

Jaune watched as the dance of combat reached its climax as the two threw a palm strike forward at the same time, each facing away from the other. It could be hard to notice sometimes but Jaune saw the telltale glow of aura, yellow for Yang and pink for Ren, wrap around their hands as they threw one final strike in the air before the aura ignited and released with a loud crack like a gunshot sounding out in the sparring room. ‘ _ I REALLY need to learn how to do that.’ _

After the rush of the moment wore off Yang turned to the group with a smile, “You boys enjoying the show?” She teased with a sultry voice and expression putting her best efforts towards getting the boys to blush. 

Efforts that were immediately ruined by Fox, “Yeah, the parts of it that I could see at least.” The comment was offered so offhand and genuine, without even a hint of sarcasm that it completely caught Jaune off guard. Yang must have been too as he saw her mouth work up and down in surprise and confusion as she made sounds like she was trying to figure out how to respond.

The smug smirk that slowly spread across Fox’s face at the surprised silence from the group elicited a chuckle from Jaune that was soon joined by Yang and Demi. Even Ren offered a toothsome smile at seeing the blonde bruiser’s comment turned back on her. Said bruiser lunged forward as she tried in vain to get Fox in a retaliatory headlock laughing the entire time. To the surprise of no one the play fighting between the two soon turned into proper sparring as they faced off at full speed rather than the graceful dance that she and Ren had performed earlier.

Ignoring the two for the moment, Jaune silently mouthed ‘time’ to Ren asking him to check how much longer they had the room for. With an answer of fifteen minutes as Ren flashed one finger then five Jaune nodded and turned to adress Demi while Ren began his own cooldowns. “So did you notice anything from the way Ren and Yang were moving?”

Jaune looked down at Demi as the digimon opened his mouth to respond quickly before he stopped and simply thought for a moment, brow furrowed in contemplation. “...neither of them looked like they were really thinking about what they were doing until the end?”

Jaune nodded in acknowledgement at the digimon’s answer. “That’s definitely a big one, yeah. Moving through forms like that teaches your body to move in certain ways so eventually it’ll do it on its own without you having to think about it. Basically their muscles remember the moves so their brains don’t have to.”

“I know what muscle memory is Jaune.” The veemon deadpanned as he motioned for Jaune to get on with it. Someone was certainly milking his ‘teenage years’ for all he could.

“Heh, sorry Demi.” Jaune apologized as he rubbed the back of his head at the comment. “Just didn’t want to assume. What we’re going to start doing though is developing a sequence for each of your techniques to head off your telegraphing issues. We’ll figure out ways for your body to move so it naturally leads from say, a stomp on the instep to a headbutt in their face.”

“Ooooohhhh,” the blue digimon quietly acknowledged as he mulled over the information. “But wouldn’t people start realizing what each sequence is?” Demi asked in confusion.

“Eventually,” Jaune acknowledged, “but you have twelve different techniques to work with so we’ll help you develop twelve different forms to switch between. The idea is once you get better and know them in and out you won’t have to think about what your body is doing so instead you can focus on the fight. At that point you can start one sequence and switch to another at the last second to catch them off guard. Ideally I want to get you to the point where you can flow from one sequence into the next naturally for combos.”

“So we’d be developing a fighting style just for me?” Demi asked with his surprise clear on his face.

“I mean… yeah?” Jaune answered awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head once more, while trying to ignore the sounds of Yang and Fox’s sparring growing more intense. ‘ _ Guys please don’t wreck another room’ _ “I mean you have limbs we don’t like the tail, your legs are shaped differently, and you have different proportions from a typical human overall. I think it’d be best for us to figure out the best way for you to fight rather than just having you fight like me or Fox or Ren or Yang. My sister had to deal with the same stuff when training Gui.”

“Thanks Jaune, thanks a bunch.” Demi spoke in his nasally voice as he smiled up at the blonde knight. Behind him Jaune saw Yang flying across the room behind him to smack into the wall after what must’ve been a particularly vicious combo from Fox. 

“Any time buddy,” Jaune reached out to pat the digimon on the head. He really was a good kid. “I wouldn’t thank me too much just yet though. This is gonna be a lot of difficult work and there’s still your weapon to consider. How’s that been going?” Jaune asked the mon as he eyed Yang as she picked herself up and kicked off the wall flames starting to lick from the edges of her hair. Shiiiit.

“Pyrrha, Ruby, and Guilmon have all been helping me a lot with trying new things. I think I have a good blueprint but I’m not sure.” Demi explained as he rubbed the back of his head in a way that felt really familiar to Jaune for some reason. Oh hey there was Fox slamming into the ceiling feet first, good job bending the knees as he hit. Need to soften that impact and it made it easier to kick off in the direction you wanted. Oh yeah, Demi was explaining still.

“Pyrrha is really optimistic though, she got in touch with her old coach and the forge where she built her weapon and armor. We’re gonna get them built while we’re in Argus visiting her mom next week.” Demi finished as he leaned his head back and upside down to watch the carnage unfolding behind them as well. Oof, Yang was probably gonna feel that kick later.

“You excited for the break next week?” Jaune asked. Making small talk as their training for the day wound down and Fox and Yang were taking the whole room anyway. Hard to believe their first semester was almost done already.

“Yeah!” Demi cheered as he pumped both fists in the air. Followed by his expression drooping as a worried look crossed his face. “It’s just… this is Pyrrha’s family. Her real family. What if they don’t like me?”

“You kidding me!?” Jaune asked with as much incredulity as he could muster in his voice and expression. “What’s not to like? You’re Pyrrha’s partner aren’t you?”

“Yeah…” Demi answered in a small voice as he sat with his knees now pulled up to his chest.

“You’re gonna be a badass hunter who’s a member of the best team at Beacon right?” Jaune urged as he tried to cheer up the little lizard.

“Yeah, I definitely am.” Demi responded with just a little more life in his voice.

“You’re a good kid and a lean mean fighting machine aren’t you!?” Jaune cheered and tried not to wince as he heard the sound of  _ something _ , probably one of the walls or the tatami mats, cracking behind him.

“Yeah!” Demi cheered as he jumped up to his feet looking the still sitting Jaune in the eye.

“And I’m your favorite person right!?!?!” Jaune belted out with even greater energy.

“Yea-! Jaune!!” The blue digimon squawked indignantly as Jaune laughed in response.

“You’ll do great Demi.” Jaune promised the veemon as he looked him in the eye. “Remember you’re Pyrrha’s partner now. That means you’re her family too, and don’t ever forget it. It might be awkward at first but give them time, they’ll love you.” 

Demi’s response was only to wrap both of his arms around Jaune’s neck and shoulders as he went in for a hug. “Thanks Jaune,” the little mon whispered.

“Anytime buddy,” Jaune said quietly as he patted Demi on the back. The tender moment was soon broken however by Jaune’s scroll going off and the slightly smoking body of Fox Alistair sliding to a stop just in front of them.

“Semblance?” Jaune asked wryly down at the tan redhead as he checked his scroll, it seemed they had work to do.

“Semblance.” Fox answered as he gingerly picked himself up.

“Sounds about right,” Jaune laughed. “Anyway guys, and Yang, the team JNPR members need to head over to Oobleck’s office for DHI business apparently.” Jaune said, getting Ren’s attention as he moved to go grab his own bag and gear from the spot he had left it. 

“Yang, Fox, you guys good to get everything handled here and turn in the keys?” Jaune asked as he fished said item from his gym bag.

“I got it VB,” Yang promised as she took the keys from his hand looking ever so much like the cat that had caught the canary after her victory against the member of team CFVY. She honestly was taking to Ren’s fighting style really well, Jaune half expected her to add knives to her loadout any day now. Grappling and throws were a bit wonkier for the huntress but at least she was learning how to defend against them better. Jaune honestly wasn’t certain whether he could pull off another win against her one on one these days. Maybe if he started using more dust in the mix?

“Thanks Yang,” Jaune replied as he shouldered his bag and headed out the door, Demi and Ren in tow. “Time to see what thrilling adventure awaits us today boys.”

\--HoH--

_ “Team! Pls cm 2 my offs. Nd disc’ DHI asnmt!” _

Gui reread the message as he slowly moseyed his way up to Oobleck’s office. In actual english rather than the professor’s odd shorthand it *probably* read, “Team! Please come to my office. Need to discuss a DHI assignment!” It was a bit surprising to the digimon to be honest. Much like the bullying, and classes in general, the DHI had been fairly quiet the entire second half of the semester.

It was honestly a bit hard to believe that their first semester here at Beacon was almost over already. After the rough start with Cardin and Jaune not being able to sleep for those weeks, things had finally calmed down and gotten back to normal. Well as normal as they ever were.

Jaune and Nora were still doing ‘Weekly Hangouts’ every Friday and had hit the point they hardly bothered bringing anyone with them anymore, Gui honestly wondered if the two had realized they were basically dating at this point. Still, at least it was progress on the, ‘Get Jaune a Girlfriend so Gui Would Have Mini-Jaunes to Spoil’ plan. Ren was still the only sensible person for Gui to hang out with and it seemed that he was coming out of his shell a bit too. That or he always smiled this much and now Gui was just much better at reading his expressions.

Pyrrha was actually doing great it seemed as well. She was still polite with everyone but it seemed less forced, less guarded over time. It seemed that Yang had been a good influence on her. Really all of team RWBY had been a blessing, it was slowly hitting the point that they may as well have been one really big team that happened to be split between two rooms. Especially since unless people were actively going to sleep the doors to each room pretty much stayed open and people from both teams wandered in and out of each.

Whether it was Weiss attempting to get combat tutoring from Pyrrha or arguing the fine details of powder versus crystal casting with Jaune. Pyrrha stepping into RWBY’s dorm to hangout with Yang which could range from them watching a movie in the dorm with Demi (an activity that would inevitably spread to include both teams in their entirety) or a shopping trip down to Vale….. actually were the two of them dating too? She still kinda gave Jaune eyes sometimes though. Might need to keep an eye on that for curiosity’s sake if nothing else… Where was he?

Oh yeah, Blake sneaking in to steal Ren’s cooking and books being shared back and forth between Her, Ruby, Jaune, and Nora. Gui had heard them talking about starting a book club or something inviting other teams to join but he never found out if anything came of it. Ruby herself was just a treasure and helped Gui immensely with keeping an eye out for Jaune in that first six weeks of the semester when everything was going wrong. Honestly, her and Nora both had been a treasure and Gui had been happy to see the friendship spring up between the two girls with very similar energy levels and a shared love of things that went boom. 

No everything was honestly going great, Gui mused as he made his way up the many stairs to Oobleck’s office (stupid stairs and stupid weird leg shape). The only problem Gui had right now was himself. He still couldn’t digivolve properly and he wasn’t sure why. Aside from initiation and that one training session in the forest he had never been able to become Growlmon and he had no idea why. Was digivolution just this hard for everyone? But, that didn’t feel right either. It felt like something he should be able to do easily at this point, but no matter how much he focused on the feeling he couldn’t trigger the change.

That problem could’ve been devastating during the Forever Fall trip if Ms. Goodwitch hadn’t saved them all at the last second. Growlmon would’ve been able to handle that ursa major just fine one on one but no matter how hard he tried, and he had TRIED for that entire fight, he just couldn’t force the change to become the champion tier.

Seeing the door to Oobleck’s office coming up on his right Gui put on an upbeat face. It wouldn’t do for him to worry the team over something that honestly hadn’t been that big of an issue so far, and he could always mope more later when there wasn’t work to be done.

Pushing open the door to the typically chaotic workspace, Gui saw the rest of team JNPR already in attendance as they faced Dr. Oobleck and, “Uncle Rex!” Gui shouted as he dashed forward to give the rabbit faunus a hug around the waist from where he was chatting with Jaune.

“Oof,” Groaned the older man in response as Gui quickly loosened his grip with a mumbled apology. “Gotta be careful there gecko, I’m not quite as spry as I used to be.”

Despite what he said, Rex Scarletina was still a well built individual, especially for being in his mid to late fifties. Sporting broad shoulders, corded muscle in his arms, and salt and pepper hair going all the way up to the tips of his ears, he had always told Gui and Jaune that in a world where huntsmen and those trained by huntsmen could be criminals it was important to be able to perform at the level of a huntsman even if he didn’t have the official license, and so that’s what Rex had done. Worked and trained on his own along with getting his aura unlocked specifically to handle huntsman tier threats in his city whenever they popped up, a sentiment Gui could respect wholeheartedly.

“You here for work?” Gui asked curiously as he let go of his uncle and stepped back. 

“Yeah actually,” Rex nodded down at the dragon as he leaned back on the desk behind him and began to address the group at large. “Work that’s gonna have to involve the lot of you kids unfortunately.”

“Quite Detective Scarletina!” Oobleck cut in with his usual manic energy. “It seems children, that you will have your first official, non research based, mission as members of the DHI!” The hyper academic continued, before stopping to take a long pull from his coffee thermos. Apparently Uncle Rex was used to dealing with Oobleck though because he stepped in to continue the explanation without a second glance at the man currently guzzling, not quite boiling hot but not far off, coffee.

“It started about three weeks ago and at first we thought it was a random pattern,” Rex explained as he looked over the six of them. “Smaller than normal rifts that always appeared for exactly thirty minutes. At first we were willing to leave it well enough alone and just keep an eye on it, then we found out what they were really doing. Somehow the rifts are being used to target specific businesses to steal them for everything they have.”

“What kind of businesses?” Gui heard Jaune ask resolutely as his brother went into ‘Leader Mode’. To Jaune’s credit it was becoming less and less something he put on and more something he did naturally but Gui would still tease him for it as tradition dictated.

Rex opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the no longer preoccupied Oobleck as the huntsman jumped back into the conversation. “Weapon depots, dust warehouses, and shops children! Needless to say, if digimon are equipping themselves with enough munitions to fight a small war we need to keep an eye out and hopefully put a stop to it!” 

The professor spoke at his typical rapid pace as he darted across the room, checking some file or book after the other as he continued to speak. “At the very least we should attempt to open some form of dialogue to understand WHY they are stealing the dust if at all possible! For the foreseeable future you will all be ‘on call’ just in case, as we wait for the next rift to form so you must be ready to move at a moment’s notice to get to the rift on time to confront these digital desperados!”

Had he really just said digital desperados? That was the corniest thing Gui had heard all week and Nora had legitimately had them all try corn flavored candy the day before, oh looks like he was still talking.

“Your professors have all been made aware of the current state of events and will excuse any absences for the purpose of DHI work until the case is solved.” Oobleck continued, firing off words at a rapid rate as Gui followed along with the practiced ease of someone who interacted with the man nearly every day. “There will be a bullhead on call at dock twenty-two as well, specifically assigned to get you to the rift as fast as possible. Make no mistake, students, with the rifts short windows of activity, time will be against us and so you must be ready to move out at a moment’s notice. Am I understood?”

**“Yes sir!”** Sounded off the entirety of team JNPR at once. Gui processed the news of their assignment with an odd feeling in his stomach. Why were digimon stealing from the human world? Why weapons? It shouldn’t have bothered Gui the way that it did but still he felt a pit form in the bottom of his stomach like a trap door swinging open. Whatever was going on it gave the crimson dinosaur a bad feeling as he made small talk with his uncle and brother before the former had to leave for the day. 

The thoughts plagued Gui for the rest of the day. Why couldn’t he stop thinking about it? Especially the focus on stealing dust and weapons? Gui groaned in frustration and rolled over as he tried to fall asleep. But sleep would be a long time coming this evening.

\--HoH--

Pyrrha was having a delightful day! It had been a bumpy start but Beacon and Vale had been just what the doctor ordered in terms of making friends and developing a social life. Now she had a team that was like extended family, a digimon partner that was like a little brother, a girl best friend, and a boy best friend who she THOUGHT she might have a crush on? Pyrrha honestly wasn’t sure anymore. 

The feelings were still there and he was still incredibly dear to her, but as her circle of friends grew wider the all encompassing need for connection had been spread out instead of all resting on Jaune’s shoulders. He was still really cute, and if he asked her out Pyrrha would still say yes in a heartbeat but she had also managed to hit a point where if it didn’t work out she didn’t think it would be the end of the world either. 

Which was probably a good thing, all things considered, with how close her two teammates were getting. Pyrrha didn’t think they were official or willing to put labels on their feelings just yet but even she wasn’t socially unaware enough to not notice how close the two had gotten. Nora should probably stake her claim soon though, no telling when someone might swoop in and try to take him. ……...Oh wow that phrasing did not sound good even in her own head. It was like a villain in a mistralimation. Really though, Pyrrha liked Jaune but the two of them were honestly cute together and he smiled around her in a way he didn’t for Pyrrha.

The gladiatrix wouldn’t lie and say it didn’t hurt. But the sting was much less than she was expecting and was almost forgotten by how happy it made her feel to see her friends finding each other that way. And every time Pyrrha told herself that she believed it a little more. Pyrrha just needed to find someone else who she liked being around, that might be interested, made her smile, and that didn’t care about her fame. Pyrrha sighed in tired resignation at the description in her mind. That would likely be a long search indeed.

A familiar chime from her pocket grabbed Pyrrha’s attention and a brilliant smile split her face unbidden as she answered her scroll. “Yes Yang?”

“Hey Pyr,” The boisterous bruiser’s voice cut through. “We’re done with Demi’s training for the day and I’ll have him dropped off soon.”

“Oh thank you! I appreciate all the work that you’ve all put in assisting him. I tried to help but he didn’t take to weapon disciplines as well as he did martial arts.” Pyrrha thanked her friend as she moved to head back to the dorm to meet the two there. It was honestly odd how much free time they had this week now that finals were finished. It was like they were on break but weren’t actually allowed to leave the campus yet. Apparently, it was so they could get tests graded and see who would need remedial lessons as well as last minute missions.

“No prob Pyr,” Yang assured her over the scroll and Pyrrha could see the blonde’s easy smile in her mind’s eye. “So, uhhh, I was wondering…,” Yang began awkwardly. “Since we kinda have the night off would you wanna go clubbing later? It’s kinda been a while since we did anything like that and I thought it might be fun and you can invite your team if you want or…..”

Pyrrha giggled as Yang trailed off, she could never understand how a girl so sure of herself could get so easily flustered. That was supposed to be Pyrrha’s job. “I’d love to, Yang,” Pyrrha promised as she smiled into the phone. “Where are we going though? I thought you still weren’t welcomed back at Junior’s?”

“Awesome!” Pyrrha quietly giggled again as Yang cheered into the scroll. “And no, yeah, it’s not Junior’s place. I found a smaller venue that I think you might like better since you’re not a fan of crowds. I went to check it out by myself first last week to see if it was cool and check out the type of music they play as-”

Whatever Yang was saying was lost as Pyrrha’s scroll lit up with a very different chime. There was work to be done. “Yang!” Pyrrha spoke into the scroll, voice colored by urgency. “I need you to take Demi to bullhead dock twenty-two. JNPR has a mission and we need to go now.”

“Got it!” Yang responded, all business, and with a clicking sound the scroll call was over. That was what Pyrrha loved about Yang, laidback and easygoing, she could light up a room but she also remained a huntress to her core that knew when to get serious. Pyrrha quickly dialed in the coordinates of the dock to her rocket locker as she moved towards the bullheads at speed. 

As she moved she saw the other members of team JNPR similarly running and a glance upwards revealed five rocket lockers flying to the docks one after the other. Pulling to a stop in front of her own Pyrrha began donning her weapons and armor over her regular clothes. It was no miniskirt but her armor and sash over the huntress grade yoga pants and jog bra from the boutique Yang had taken her to would work just fine.

It was as she was lacing on the reinforced corset that Yang found her, Demi in tow. “Thank you so much Yang,” Pyrrha said as she pulled the laces tight and slid on her bracer. “So yeah, I would still love to go clubbing with you later if we manage to finish in time but for now this is kinda urgent so thanks for bringing Demi straight here! Love you! Bye!” Pyrrha shouted over the engines of the bullhead as she grabbed her weapon and ran into the bullhead, her digimon partner by her side. ….Wait. …..What had she just said? 

With mounting horror and a furious blush Pyrrha moved to go correct herself but the bullhead was pulling up and away from a waving and crimson faced Yang. Turning back to her team Pyrrha was faced with five shit-eating grins that she promptly did her best to ignore as she sat down and closed her eyes for the remainder of the flight.

Ten minutes of rapid, bumpy flight later while Pyrrha listened to her partner/team leader try not to toss cookies all over the cabin, found them over a perfect dome of rainbow tinted fog. It wasn’t terribly large compared to the size of the last rift they had entered. Just a bit bigger than the building it contained from what the street maps on their scrolls showed, and they would be dropping directly onto it. This was honestly a bit nerve wracking as far as missions go, there was almost no intel aside from location and a time frame that measured in minutes to complete it.

“COME STUDENTS!” Oobleck shouted over the open door of the airship as they lined up. Pyrrha grabbed both Ren and Veemon’s hands as the three tumbled out of the airship and directly into the rift. It was strange enough when she had held onto Jaune before to enter the rift in the forest but this just felt  _ wrong _ . Like every individual atom wanted to go a direction other than the direction they were going in and couldn’t decide on the actual direction. Pyrrha felt as if she was being pushed and pulled every which way trying to divert her course, though she ultimately fell through in a straight line. The fall was slow though as if they were passing through water or molasses, and then they were through and everything felt right again.

Letting go of their hands, Pyrrha and her two tagalongs hit the roof of the building lightly, the slow passage through the rift breaking their momentum. A dull thud and the jangling sound of metal armor let Pyrrha know the other half of her team had landed behind her.

“Alright everyone,” Jaune began as Pyrrha turned towards her leader. “We don’t know what we’re walking into so let’s play this as smart as possible.” 

Stepping past Pyrrha, Jaune pulled out Gardien Rouge and tightened the straps as he took point, Pyrrha joining him. “Shields out and in front, keep your eyes open for hostiles.”

Pyrrha and Jaune held the front position, shields up and weapons handy, as they made their way through the rooftop access and down the stairs into the rest of the shop. Already Pyrrha could hear voices drifting up towards her from the showroom. “Will it be enough?”

The voice was deep and resonant and spoke with an undeniable urgency, as did the voice that responded. “It will have to be, Dinohyumon. Gather up the rookies, we leave in five minutes.”

Pyrrha’s eyes widened at the admission, that REALLY wasn’t a lot of time to do this in. The gladiatrix turned towards her leader waiting for his call. If Jaune needed time to mull it over it apparently wasn’t much because he simply nodded, motioned like he was banging on his shield twice, and waved the team forward. It was time to be loud.

Pyrrha was off like a shot, down the stairwell and through the door with her shield up and Ren hot on her heels. The door crunched as Pyrrha made contact with it shield first, and then proceeded to buckle before exploding outwards in a shower of splinters and sawdust as Pyrrha hit the floor, weapon at the ready. 

“Vale Huntress! Everyone put your hands up and drop the merchandise!” Despite the tense situation Pyrrha couldn’t resist the internal giggle, she had always wanted to say that. Just like Romsky and Dutch.

The digimon in the room froze and so did Pyrrha as she took her count. There were roughly ten of the smaller ones in various shapes that Pyrrha hoped were all rookies. If that wasn’t worrisome enough there were three larger digimon that Pyrrha felt fairly certain were actually champion level. This was bad, this was very bad. A split second after finishing her statement Pyrrha’s vision was tinted by a familiar shade of cyan heralding the arrival of the rest of her team and team leader. 

“I am Jaune Arc of Beacon Academy, as my partner has instructed I would appreciate it if you could please put down the stolen goods and surrender yourselves for processing before things get too messy.” Huh, he actually really was getting good at the leader voice. Pyrrha wondered if he was practicing it when no one was around.

On of the large ones stepped forward, shaped like a humanoid lion and with a physique like it was carved from granite he stared down team JNPR. “No.” He said softly, his voice did not sound unkind to Pyrrha but his tone and stance were both resolute as well. “Dinohyumon. Buraimon. With me. The rest of you secure the target and prepare to shift back.”

Two more large, well built, humanoid digimon joined the lion man. A green lizard man in buckskins and covered in blades adopted a ready position with as many blades pointed towards team JNPR as he could manage. The third, a winged creature with the features of an eagle dressed in Mistrali clothing drew a katana and held his position. For a moment no one moved, the digimon simply needed to wait out the clock while team JNPR was unsure what to do. Then Demi charged and all hell broke loose.

Dashing between Pyrrha’s legs the blue lizard lunged forward head first, his aura flaring. Pyrrha thought Demi must have caught him by surprise because she could see his eyes widen just before Demi caught him straight in the gut with a shout of, “V-Headbutt!”

With a battlecry Pyrrha rushed in after her digi-partner and the battle was on. A quick glance to the side revealed Ren and Jaune dashing towards the lizard man in blades and buckskins as Nora and Gui engaged the avian swordsman. The momentary distraction almost cost the gladiatrix though, Veemon was sent bodily rocketing back at her as the lion man physically picked him up in one hand and threw him straight at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha sidestepped in her charge, holding an arm out to catch Veemon and using the momentum to transition into a backspin before releasing him once again towards the larger digimon as Veemon’s aura once again began flaring for another attack. Pyrrha followed directly behind her partner this time and dropped low at the last moment, her sword lashing out as she swung at the calves and ankles of the leonine monster. 

The two pronged assault was… less effective than she would have hoped. She definitely scored a line across the side of his leg but this wasn’t some rookie or wild beast apparently. Her opponent had sidestepped, pulling just far enough out of the way to prevent her from dealing any real damage and had managed to simultaneously swat Veemon out of the air with a slap. Pyrrha gasped and grit her teeth as what had seemed like a casual swat had Veemon flying through the air before slamming into the wall with a meaty thwack.

Gritting her teeth Pyrrha tried to keep the pressure up. She needed to give Demi time to recover, his aura hadn’t broken so he  _ should _ be ok. Pyrrha just wasn’t sure she would be, the lion digimon hadn’t even drawn his weapon yet as Pyrrha  _ MOVED. _

A three slash combo led into a sliding backbend to avoid a swing. A quick shot from her rifle to try and clear some space drew blood but not much else and she was forced to leap from her position over the once again swinging arm as she mechashifted once again to her spear and tried to take advantage of the reach. 

Ultimately though it proved pointless, as she finally encountered a blow she couldn’t dodge and Pyrrha took a fist roughly the size of her torso dead on. With a blossoming pain that not even aura could completely dampen, Pyrrha was sent flying back towards where her partner had been, and was caught by a pair of long, strong, blue arms.

Looking back Pyrrha saw Demi but different. This could very easily be what she imagined he would look like as an adult if Digimon aged in the same way humans did. A lean but still powerfully built frame covered in flame pattern armor with a large, blade-like horn jutting from his face plate.

“D-Demi?” Pyrrha asked, just a little worried. She recognized this form. It had threatened her and her friends in the forest even if it had voiced its approval of her later. 

“Yeah Pyrrha?” Her partner responded with a voice that sounded just like Courage. A voice that sounded just like courage but in a manner and cadence that was one hundred percent Demi. Pyrrha felt a wave of relief rush through her.

“Ready to go win?” Pyrrha asked with renewed confidence as her partner gently set her back on her feet careful not to catch her with the wicked claws on his gauntlets.

“Of course!” Demi responded with a cocky smirk as he took a ready stance next to Pyrrha. Their opponent simply eyed the two without saying a word before drawing the sword he kept behind his back and adopting a ready stance and they were off.

Pyrrha marveled at Demi’s new speed and strength as the two moved in sync. Each one of Pyrrha’s attacks was complemented by a burning claw or kick from her partner at a different angle forcing their opponent to split his attention between the two of them.

A slash at the ankles was thrown at the same time as a claw strike at the head. A stable into the soft tissue of the armpit from the spear on one side was followed up by a literally sharp kick to the kidneys on the other side. Shot after shot from her rifle was supplemented by some absolutely vicious infighting on Demi’s part forcing the lion man to stay at a distance.

The progress was slow but it was sure. They were forcing the opponent back, one step at a time. An errant glance to take stock of the battlefield showed that her teammates were on the press as well. Jaune glowed brilliantly white as he deflected or countered every blade from the green lizard man while Ren dashed in and out slashing with Stormflower’s blades from one angle before rolling back out and unleashing a hail of bullets from the SMGs. Nora and Guilmon attacked viciously, Guilmon rushing in and occupying the birdman with powerful blows from his claws and breath weapon while giving Nora the room she needed to swing Magnhild properly.

Yes, against all odds with the sudden addition of a digivolved Demi team JNPR was winning as they forced back their enemies until all three champion digimon were back to back and everything went wrong. There was no grand counterattack or anything, just one moment they were pressing the advantage and the next her attacks passed straight through her enemy as he started to fade. Soon the entire group of digimon faded away and Pyrrha and her team were left with one crushing realization. They had failed.

Pyrrha blinked her eyes as the consistent rainbow tint in the air that marked the digital rifts faded from view. That… that wasn’t… that wasn’t fai-.... no… Pyrrha didn’t want to admit it but their actions had made sense. The leader obviously hadn’t been interested in hurting any of them and they hadn’t needed to. All the enemy had needed to do was wait out the clock while the others had done all the work and they fell for it completely. Instead of breaking up the posse in the back they had focused on fighting the three warriors. 

It was a dumb mistake even if it had made sense… honestly mistake wasn’t even the right word. They had simply been at a disadvantage from the very beginning with a crippling time limit and an enclosed area for a battlefield that made any real fighting difficult. It made perfect logical sense. So why did the loss rankle her so much? Pyrrha’s moment of self admonishment was brought to an end though as the familiar form of team JNPR’s academic advisor burst through the entrance.

“AREYOUALRIGHTCHILDREN!?” Came the usual fast paced shout of Dr. Oobleck as he ran through the door, torch in hand. What he found was a set of six slightly winded trainees with a mood that ranged from confused to frustrated and distinct lack of both prisoners and dust in the dust shop.

What followed was an awkward debriefing with an annoyingly supportive Professor and Detective. “Yes we’re perfectly fine sir. No we weren’t able to stop them. Yes Demi is now six feet tall and wearing armor. I’m sure it’ll go away soon.”

They had failed, but apparently, if nothing else, they now had important intel on their opponents for the next time they met. ‘Yes detective, three champions were the main fighters. One was a lizard called Dinohyumon, one was a bird person named Buraimon, and the last was a lion man but we never found out what he was called. They were all stronger than us and they all used swords.”

Oobleck complimented them on just surviving the three champion tier digimon but even then Pyrrha couldn’t bring herself to feel any pride when after the rush of battle was over she realized that their targets definitely hadn’t fought as hard as they could. It left Pyrrha wondering what they would be like when they were serious. “Thank you sir, but I feel like I could’ve done better. Yes they were all champions but still… yes sir. Yes I think I’ll go take that break.

If nothing else they needed some powerful help for the next encounter that could help and Jaune said he had an idea for that. For now on Pyrrha’s end all she really wanted was a shower and to meet up with Yang. ‘ _ Actually,’ _ Pyrrha thought with a wince as she unlaced her corset to reveal the rapidly purpling bruise covering her entire stomach. It would heal by tomorrow but for now it hurt.  _ ‘Maybe Yang would be okay with staying in tonight instead. I can order some take out for us and she can pick the movie while we watch it in her bunk.’ _

\--HoH--

Velvet Scarletina was having a wonderful evening. She was relaxing and hanging out with Yatsuhashi. Well she was busy editing and developing some of her non-weapon related photos and Yats was either meditating or reading but honestly it worked for them in terms of quality time. 

This however was all interrupted by a sharp knock on the doory. Sharing a confused look with her partner Velvet went to answer and was met by the visage of her cousin rubbing the back of his awkwardly and giving her that look that just screamed he was about to ask her for something.

“Heeeeeyyyyyy Cuuuuuz,” Jaune drew out the word as he apparently chose to beat around the bush rather than get right to it. “Any chance your leader is in? My team and your dad need to ask your team for a favor…..”

  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTE**

**Hey y’all! Welcome back to HoH, thanks for reading! NO big author’s note this time, I just really hope you enjoy the story and where I take it going forward as I do my first original arc lol. Y’all have a great day! And don’t forget to love each other!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I OWN NOTHING! ENJOY!! I HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A GOOD DAY!!**

“Ok, so, the big thing is when you use dust this way you need to interact with and get used to the way dust feels when you use it. Dust doesn’t have a personality or anything but the different types do react to aura in different ways depending on their nature and each has a *feel* to them for lack of a better term.” Jaune awkwardly explained to his audience as they each dutifully took notes.

From Nora’s chaotic scrawl as she filled in extra notes and observations in the margins and added the occasional doodle to keep her hands occupied as she listened. To Veemon’s odd shorthand where he apparently removed any and all words he deemed unnecessary to actually being able to understand what was written. And Blake’s clean and orderly notes as she took down everything with an honestly astonishing speed. Jaune gulped as all three of them looked up at him expectantly before continuing.

“So what I mean by feel is…” Jaune floundered for a moment as they all looked at him. Jaune wasn’t a teacher, why did they come to him for tutoring!? No, no, keep it together. Just had to do his best. Jaune collected himself quickly and continued his explanation, “A big example would be how friendly dust types are to shaping. Stone, ice, hardlight, and plant dust are all actually quite friendly towards shaping and forming constructs. An accomplished caster can create stone orbs and walls that they can throw at people as well as cause spikes to rise from the ground. Same with ice dust and the others, though there are differences between each of them individually as well. Like stone’s unyielding nature which can take a lot of practice and concentration to shape, or plant dusts natural tendency to want to grow wildly and has to be reigned in and guided properly for the effect that you want. I tend to practice with plant dust for control and one time early on I let it get away from me and had to call my sisters to get me down from where the new tree grew up under and around me while wrapping around all my limbs.”

“Wait, seriously? A tree?” Blake cut in when Jaune paused for a moment to take a breath.

“Oh yeah,” Jaune nodded vigorously. “It was like a thing. Like seed in the ground I didn’t know about, to a full-on tree wrapping me up where I couldn’t really move in like seconds. So yeah you definitely need to respect dust while you’re working with it because it’s super handy but can also be really volatile. That’s part of why I like using hardlight dust so much. It’s super friendly to shaping by nature since it was engineered that way. The only real problem is it can be kinda brittle unless you constantly pour either power or aura into it but I get around that by layering my constructs to reinforce them. The biggest bummer is the price, like hardlight gets used for pretty much everything up to and including scrolls, but military grade is really hard to get a hold of outside of Atlas and kinda expensive. Even worse when you use crystals like me instead of the cheaper powder type everyone else uses, since they have to actually press together the mixtures and grow the crystals artifically using the dust types that make it up”

Looking up to all four current residents of the room staring as he finished his tangent Jaune felt the heat of a blush catch on his ears. “Yeah. Or, well, something like that. I’m sorry for going off topic.”

“Stop apologizing,” Cut in the voice of Jaune’s co-instructor for the study session. “You’re fine,” Weiss harrumphed, “Your simplified explanation of the Baum Effect was perfectly serviceable, and considering the laidback nature of this study session as a sort of round table or open forum occasional tangents are to be expected. Now finish explaining if you don’t mind?”

“Come on Jaune-Jaune,” Nora cut in as she grabbed back his attention with a smile. “This has all been really handy actually. So for the other side of the coin, when you showed me how to practice with fire dust a while back fire tends to not be shaped well since fire by its nature tends to want to go wherever it can as soon as it can?”

“Yeah that’s exactly right!” Jaune latched onto the new talking point. “Things like fire and wind and lightning can be directed but are very hard to form in actual shapes with dust unless there’s a semblance or something involved. Most of the time it becomes a case of, point it in the right direction and let loose. The closest I’ve come to proper shaping with things like that is the trick I did with the lightning dust where I coated most of my body in it through interaction with my aura and even that wasn’t clean because lightning wants to act like lightning. Really, I guess that’s the big point when you start working with this stuff. There are some exceptions like with semblances and stuff but fire wants to act like fire and ice wants to act like ice and so on. I can work exclusively with fire dust and training in manipulation with it but I’ll never be able to make fire dust that’s cold to the touch because that’s not the nature of fire. I don’t even mean just from a spiritual aspect but like physics and stuff too. To make fire you need to excite molecules by adding kinetic energy which generates heat. Dust is able to do this without a fuel source but it’s still the same thing the addition of kinetic energy excites the molecules and then fire and heat are born. It’s actually really interesting when you think about it, dust as a science is still pretty unknown in terms of how it works. There may actually be a point to the argument of dust being magic of a sort considering the way it interacts with conservation of mass and causality….”

Jaune slowly trailed off as he took in the view in front of him. Nora was writing things down rapidly and still adding her own little notes to the margins, Demi was looking increasingly more confused, his expression glazed over, and Blake had apparently just put her pencil down at some point. 

Jaune stared across his friends as he began nervously rubbing the back of his head. The silence drug on the only sound being the scratching of Nora’s pen on paper. “Soooo….” Jaune slowly started, “Do any of you have any questions?”

“You said dust interacts with semblances?” Blake opened, the question in her voice clear to Jaune. “How so?”

“Well it kinda depends on the semblance, I don’t know a lot on the subject myself since my semblance doesn’t really interact with dust.” Jaune admitted awkwardly as his hand reflexively went to the back of his head as he looked to his co-tutor for help. “You have any advice Weiss?”

“Yes actually, the Schnee family semblance makes heavy use of dust so I have some personal experience in this subject.” The white haired huntress explained as she adopted her ‘teaching’ pose. One hand and finger up in front of her and the other curled behind her back with her eyes closed and head tilted slightly up. “It may take some practice but typically if your semblance has interactivity with dust then the act of activating dust with your aura and holding the energy rather than releasing it can allow you to feed the energy into your semblance as you spend aura activating it. This phenomenon is also known as the Carroll Paradigm after the man in question discovered the sword he created from his aura could be granted elemental effects when holding dust crystals in his hands.”

The Schnee heiress relaxed from her teaching pose as she looked down at her seated teammate, “Was that enough of an explanation?”

“Yes,” Blake nodded with a thoughtful look on her face, obviously considering what this could mean for her combat style. Jaune  _ really _ wasn’t looking forward to the idea of having to deal with shadow clones that blew up. The normal ones were bad enough.

“Hmm, that would be a good project for us to work on,” The Schnee heiress opened as she looked to her teammate. “I would be willing to supply the dust for your practice and we can work on it together.”  _ ‘Thank you for that Weiss. Thank you for that so much.’ _ Jaune groaned internally as his book buddy quietly nodded at the idea of developing her powers more. Seeing his own teammate finishing with her notes as she very nearly vibrated in her seat brought Jaune to a pause.

“Yes Nora?”

The two simple words opened a floodgate and now hurricane Nora was rolling in. “So how much exactly does physics tie into dust science? How exactly does crystal casting differ from powder casting and how does that differ from ammo mixes? How do you mix new types of dust and then create new crystals? The book said hardlight crystals don’t exist but you use them, what’s up with that?”

Jaune awkwardly raised his hands in surrender under the onslaught of questions from the excitable huntress as he did his best to answer her with a small chuckle. “A good bit and it can really help but it’s also not necessary unless you’re planning to get deep into it. Ask Weiss. Ask Weiss. Ask Weiss. The crystals are made through a combination of exerting both heat and pressure on the new powder mix and letting the synthetic crystals form naturally, or as close to it as they can manage. The book is outdated, the current edition is five years old. The techniques for making crystals from synthetic mixes were developed about three and a half years ago by a team from Atlas.”

“Indeed,” Weiss cut in, to Jaune’s relief, she took to the teacher role way more than he did. “The process was developed with proprietary technology and funding from the Schnee Dust Company in conjunction with some of the brightest minds from the Atlesian government. My sister Winter even uses one of the synthetic crystals for steam dust in her weapon.” Weiss paused for a moment to take a breath still in her teaching pose even as Jaune watched Nora turn her full attention to the white haired girl, eyes wide and expectant, before Weiss continued her portion of the lecture.

“Powder differs from crystal casting in that powder is much easier to work with but as a trade off the dust burns up and can’t be reused. The current prevailing theory is the energy from the dust dissipates and will slowly grow into new crystals over time underground but there is very little supporting evidence for this. With powder casting it is easy to say, spread the dust in a thin layer before you and then activate causing a wide area of effect attack. With crystal casting performing a maneuver like this can take hundreds of hours of training and practice just to do it and even more to do it reliably in a combat situation.” Weiss informed Nora quickly and efficiently as the carrot top smiled and rapidly took down notes. How could the girl write so fast? Oh! Weiss was continuing her lesson.

“The big difference with ammo is it’s technically not a form of casting at all as the powder blends used for ammo simply are activated with a trigger pull, fired, and forgotten. It was this innovation from Atlas towards the end of the Great War that caused the biggest push towards the widespread usage of dust beyond dedicated casters and nearly won them the war and ended the Color Revolution were it not for the Last King of Vale and whatever conflux of semblances and dust manipulation he managed to pull out to end the fighting.” Weiss winded down her lecture and opened her eyes to see a happily nodding and writing Nora looking up at her expectantly still. Jaune could swear he saw an actual battle of wills between Nora’s excitement and Weiss’ reluctance until something apparently broke between them and Weiss sighed.

“The mixing of dust types to create new blends and effects is largely trial and error based on educated guesses. Two simple mixes I’d suggest experimenting with are fifty-eight percent fire and forty-two percent water to create steam dust and sixty-four percent fire and thirty-six percent earth to make lava dust. There is some small margin for error either direction but those typically offer the best results. If you want the steam dust to be a bit more explosive I’d recommend a blend of seventy-five percent fire to twenty-five percent ice dust.” The heiress acknowledged begrudgingly before letting loose a sharp “eep” as she was wrapped up in a hug by the tiny powerhouse known as Nora.

“Thank you sooooo much Weissy! I’ve been wanting to study more on powder mixes but no one’s had the time or experience to give me the heads up on what mixes do and don’t work as well as what types of mixes to use! You’re awesome! So what would happen if I blended water with lightning? Oh! Actually if I blended water, wind, and lightning dust would I be able to create localized thunderstorms? I need to figure out percentages. I wonder if that’s how they seed clouds?” 

Jaune recognized the signs of Nora’s mind running a mile a minute as she started brainstorming. The encouragement from the Doc earlier in the semester had done wonders for the girl and her dedication to her studies. Still though, “Nora, I’m happy for you but I think Weiss might appreciate being put down now.” Jaune advised his teammate as he fought to hide the rising smile from appearing on his face.

“Oh! Sorry Weissy,” Nora apologized as she set down the heiress, a faint dusting of pink across the girl’s cheeks at the praise.

“You’re fine Nora,” Weiss waved her off as she straightened her dress and shot a glare at Blake who was making no effort to hide her sardonic smile at Weiss’ “distress”. “I understand you’re the touchy-feely type and I am happy to help you better yourself when you’re this dedicated. Maybe just ask first before going for the hug next time though?”

“Absolutely Weiss-cream Sundae!” Nora cheered as she offered her friend a thumbs up.

“Do you have to use that nickname Xiao Long came up with?”

“Yup!” Nora chirped happily. “I think it’s cute.”

Jaune smiled sympathetically at the heiress with a shrug as she let loose a long suffering sigh at the nickname, to be fair she could’ve had it worse. At least she didn’t get stuck with Vomit Boy. He hadn’t actually thrown up on that flight anyway. Just excessive amounts of dry heaving for thirty minutes…. Yeah maybe it was just better to let that one lie.

“So,” Jaune cut in as the session reached a lull. “I think that’s a good stopping point for the day. What about you guys?”

“Yeah I think I’ve got a better understanding now,” Blake responded, the raven haired huntress nodding slightly as she looked through her notes. “At the very least I know where I went wrong during the final, thanks guys.”

Jaune nodded to his corner buddy before having his attention drawn down by a tug on his sleeve. “I uhhh,” Demi opened awkwardly as the veemon awkwardly shuffled his feet and rubbed the back of his head. “I kinda lost my place there at the end and I didn’t understand parts of it I think but I swear I’ll keep working on it!”

Jaune just laughed as he patted the little lizard man’s head. “You’re fine Demi,” Jaune promised. “We got into some higher end stuff at the end by accident anyway and that’s on me. You still have plenty of time to catch up and we’ll put in some one on one time later, ok?”

Receiving a nod of agreement from his kinda-sorta protege who was also Pyrrha’s partner Jaune turned to the rest of the group as everyone gathered up and put away their notes. “So me and Nora,” Jaune ignored the muttered “Nora and I” from Weiss as he continued, “were thinking of heading down into Vale to do lunch. You guys wanna join?”

Jaune watched Blake open her mouth to respond before being cut off by Weiss, “As soon as Ruby and Yang return we will be heading down into Vale to view and appreciate the preparations for the Vytal Festival. It will be a culturally enriching team bonding experience.”

Weiss had sold the explanation so well Jaune almost believed it completely. Then Blake revealed Weiss’ actual motivations, “She wants to spy on the other students coming in to get a better feel for the competition.”

“Ha! Yeah that tracks,” Jaune laughed as the heiress huffed in embarrassment. “You guys have fun with that ok?” He finished as the members of team JNPR shuffled out of the room.

“Do you wanna come with Demi?” Nora offered as the three stepped into their own dormitory. Jaune dropping off his books before donning his customary hoodie.

“That’s ok, Pyrrha had some plans for the two of us to go out together after she got done with her training. I think she wants to make up for the lack of one on one time since we usually end up doing stuff with Yang and I usually end up training with Jaune.” The little digimon explained as he hopped up in bed with a book in hand, huh Peter Pythos and the Tournament of Champions. Must’ve been a gift from Glynda or Pyrrha.

“Speaking of Pyrrha and Yang,” Jaune cut in with good humor and curiosity. “How are things going with those two? After how things went yesterday I know they had their date night and there was the whole ‘I love you bit’ from Pyrrha. Are they finally getting serious?”

“I’m….. not…..sure?” the little digimon admitted slowly. “They’re acting really date-y from what I’ve seen but I don’t think Pyrrha really realizes it yet? How long did it take you and Nora to make it official?”

Jaune proceeded to choke on air. “Pfffft, whaaaaaa? What do you mean? Me and Nora aren’t… We just go out together every Friday and spend a lot of our spare time together and I really like her and she’s kinda out of my league and….. Nora are we dating?”

“For like two months now I think yeah.” The carrot top responded honestly with a deadpan tone that was ruined by the massive blush on her face.

Huh. “Huh, that’s… kinda awesome actually. Do... Do you wanna do something over the break if we’re making it official? Like only if you wanna make it official?” Jaune stammered awkwardly, what the hell? Had he just bumbled his way into a relationship with his cute, shortstack best friend that he’d been crushing on? What? HOW?

“I think I’d like that very much Jaune-Jaune,” Nora laughed as she took his hand and started dragging him out the door. “Now come on, I don’t wanna miss the lunch special at Geo’s”

Unfortunately Jaune’s existential crisis about not realizing he was already in his first relationship and Nora’s lunch date would have to wait. Their scrolls let loose the now familiar tone that told them there was work to be done.

\--HoH--

“Now students!” Oobleck shouted over the roar of the speeding bullhead. “The rift in question is currently surrounding a dust warehouse in downtown Vale, assuming their numbers are the same as last time there should be fewer issues with the size of the battlefield but be aware that you will still need to be wary of the volatile dust! Avoid explosives and excessive use of firearms as much as possible!”

Coco quietly snorted to herself as Oobleck worried of his firsties. A big worry over nothing really, after all now that rookies had team CFVY there to pick up the slack and finish the job. Trainees or not, ten huntsmen should be plenty to handle a few thieves. Still a little extra intel never hurt, “Oi! Velvet’s cousin!”

Coco eyed Jaune Arc as he jumped at her calling for him. Well built and a bit on the lean side he was definitely making the knight in shining armor look work for him but the t-shirt sleeves on his hoodie were just odd, same with the wrist to elbow bright orange rash guards. Definitely needed to give him some tips if she was going to be associating with him for an extended period of time because the boy was a mass of poor aesthetic details marring an overall good design.

“Y-yes’m!” Coco smiled to herself as he stuttered. A little off considering his good showing during initiation but she could work with awkward and polite as long as he was willing to follow direction on this mission. An involuntary glance and blush on his part towards the very pleased looking carrot top next to him revealed even more to Coco, ahhh young love, so cute as long as it didn’t make him a liability.

“Tell me what we should be expecting one more time!” Coco shouted over the roar of the engines as she stubbornly held onto her beret. Should’ve remembered to grab a clip to hold it in place. “I wanna see if we missed or overlooked anything!”

Coco eyed her fellow leader as his eyes hardened and he nodded, good boy, he did have potential. “During yesterday’s encounter there were roughly ten smaller digimon who we are currently assuming are rookies and three larger digimon who were all definitely at least champion, all three were also swordsmen! We mainly engaged the three champion digimon and ignored the rookies which was the first mistake since this allowed them to gather up the dust and prepare for their departure!”

“What are your recommendations for what we’re stepping into?” Coco shouted back, might as well get a feel for where the firstie’s head was at.

The JNPR lead didn’t even hesitate before giving her his assessment. “Assume their numbers will be higher today! Now that they know to expect possible resistance I wouldn’t be surprised if they have at least one other champion with them or more rookies. Best case scenario the numbers are exactly the same amount of both rookies and champions but I prefer to plan for the worst. Make sure your team is coordinated to keep them scattered and disorganized, if they look like they’re trying to gather up in a certain area don’t let them! My team knows to do the same!”

Hmmm it seemed like his head held more than eyes and teeth at least. Coco felt the bullhead slow and let a confident smirk pull up at the edges of her mouth. It was time for the fun part. Coco moved to head to the exit of the bullhead for the drop when she felt a hand on her shoulder grabbing her attention. 

“Coco,” Arc said as he looked down at her. “Let’s avoid casualties if we can, yeah? These guys aren’t Grimm and it would be good to get some kind of intel or explanation besides.” 

Coco couldn’t help but laugh a bit to herself as she shrugged off Arc’s hand, the kid really did worry too much. “Don’t worry firstie, you’ve got team CFVY with you now. We’ll get the job done, clean and painless, now let’s go!” And with that Coco was out the door and dropping down to the currently empty street in front of the now rainbow shimmering warehouse, Gianduja grasped firmly in her palm while maintaining its handbag form.

“Alright everyone form up! Three huntsmen to a tamer team!” The commanding voice of Arc rang out. Opting to let the kid take the lead Coco grouped up on Arc with her partner, each of them laying a hand on a shoulder while he reached out and took a hand each from the both the carrot top Valkyrie and his dinosaur as they made their way through the iridescent barrier. Wow that was ten kinds of weird, like trying to turn left and right at the same time.

Then they were through and Coco was striding forward, hand on her hip as the others formed up behind her, as it should be. Coco gently reached forward and prepared herself to knock on the door of the warehouse. With her foot. As hard as she could. She kicked the door in. After all, a huntress had to make an entrance with style.

The doors swung open with a resounding crack as Coco kicked them in and leaned forward on the same leg she kicked with. “Valean huntress, your options include surrendering now or giving me the option to do this the fun way, please choose the fun way.” Coco said while deploying her weapon’s minigun form, allowing a vicous smile to form on her face to intimidate her targets. Or that was the plan at least.

“ **FIST OF THE BEAST KING!”** What Coco got was a giant lion’s head made out of energy as the brick house with a lion’s mane punched the air and sent the attack rocketing towards her. A quick dodgeroll to the side had Coco avoiding the attack and firing a salvo of lightning dust into the room hoping to stun or scatter her targets while the rest of the squad leapt into action. 

The room quickly turned to chaos as all ten members of the team engaged the raiders. Coco faced down the apparent leader, who’s name they still didn’t know but was probably something lion related on a guess, flanked by both the Arc boy and Yats who rushed to the fore to engage the monster. A quick scan of the battlefield showed Nikos’ partner transforming into a masked swordsman with heavy wooden gauntlets and two wooden swords before engaging with the samurai bird. Nikos herself fought the green one covered in blades alongside Fox and the boy in pink and green who Coco just couldn’t remember the name of. Vel, the carrot top, and Arc’s dinosaur dashed into the crowd of small ones and…. oh that was a new wrinkle wasn’t it?

Coco watched as each of the smaller creatures that had hands to hold them pulled out dust weaponry. Claws, dextrous paws, and oddly shaped hands pulled out flaming daggers, freezing spears, shocking axes, and of course lots and lots of guns. That was definitely gonna be a problem. 

Trusting the boys behind her to handle the big one Coco dashed past the lion man and moved to assist the three with the heavily armed little monsters. A flex of her semblance, Hype, as she passed through the group began activating the dust in their weapons prematurely and driving it wild. Edged weapons were overcome by their elemental effects as the mon were shocked, burned, and frozen by their own dust. At the same time Coco lashed out with Gianduja, now returned to its purse form, the heavy bag lashed out sending digimon flying and scattering them to the four corners of the room while more importantly keeping them from the pile of dust sitting in the middle of the room that they were gathering around.

It was pure chaos as even without the dust weapons Coco was forced to dodge sharp claws, bladed limbs, vicious punches, gusts of wind, shards of ice, lightning, and fireballs. Lots of fireballs in shades of yellow, red, orange, and blue. The huntsmen were out numbered but doing their best, cyan light flashing into construct as Coco glimpsed Vel apparently taking her partners place against the big cat for a moment joined by the red lizard as they joined Arc and cyan light glowed as barriers and blades of hardlight energy were formed and quickly shattered under the assault of the much stronger opponent. Another roaring lion’s head made of energy crashing and washing over two glowing kite shields as Velvet copied her cousins weapon and fighting style while the red lizard shot blasts of cherry red flame directly into the beast’s face over their shoulders.

Moving past the family unit Coco saw Nikos deftly dodging every strike from the green one in buckskins, sometimes just by a matter of inches. He must’ve been the weakest one out of his group though as Coco watched his swings and weapons sometimes go wide or off course swinging into other digimon nearby. While the gladiatrix held it’s attention though, Fox and the quiet one in green were dashing in and out slashing with the blades of their weapons leaving shallow cuts where they could.

Yats was now fighting the avian samurai and managing to match its strength if not speed. The confusion and uncertainty of its movements let Coco know though that Yats was taking full advanage of his semblance to mess with the bird’s short term memory. A definite sign of how challenging the fight was for the giant teen. A glance to Coco’s right showed that she was now joined by a new partner in taking on the horde of little digimon as Nikos’ partner was wading into the fray. Swinging his blunt weapons with enough speed to catch the rookies raiders center mass and then add the force needed to send them flying up and away ragdolling them without over harming them.

The chaotic battle carried on for what could’ve only been a few minutes but felt like eternity as they all traded dance partners both in terms of help and opponents a few times over. And then something happened that Coco wouldn’t have noticed if not for the effect it had on the digimon they were facing. The constant rainbow tinted mist was fading. Only thing was the digi thieves were staying there refusing to fade with the mist along with their loot.

Coco allowed herself to smile in the face of her impending victory. Just as she had figured, team CFVY had been all the muscle the little firsties needed to save the day. Now just to get the police and Oobleck to help arrest all these things and Velvet could take advantage of already being out in the city to hit that boutique on the corner of First and Maple.

Said train of thought was driven off the rails and into a fiery explosion, literally, though when a magenta beetle pulled out something that looked like a bulky, oversized scroll and looked into it for a moment before throwing a sack of fire dust at the wall and blasting it with electricity. The ensuing explosion blew out the wall revealing an empty alleyway behind them. With a cry of “Mile and a half this way! Ten minutes bzzz!” The digimon broke off from the surprised huntsmen and huntresses and through the hole in the wall moving at speed. 

Coco bit back a curse as the squad made chase. These were  _ not _ her running heels.

\--HoH--

In through the nose out through the mouth. In through the nose out through the mouth. Ren controlled his breathing as he ran. A tiny flex of aura to boost his speed and reduce muscle fatigue and he was running at the front of the pack in their pursuit alongside Velvet and Fox. The digimon thieves were being clever and sticking to back alleys as they pushed for wherever their destination might be and the Beacon squad was doing their best to keep up. 

Velvet was the fastest among them easily. Fleet of foot and using her mimicked weapons to increase mobility as Ren saw her project the wireframe of two gauntlets on her arms before thin wires of light shot and locked onto structures and building as she used the mechanism to drag herself forward and speed up her turns. Fox was moving surprisingly well for a blind man reacting to turns and obstacles faster than Ren could even notice them as every movement was performed with an almost precognitive grace. Ren himself was busy trying to do a dozen small things at once to maximize the use of his relatively meager aura to get as much speed out of his body as he possibly could. 

Measured breathing to keep himself from getting winded and to maintain control. A quick burst here and there to add some extra power to a step both sending him forward and allowing him to sidestep obstacles and taking turns sharper. Leveraging the healing power of his aura to scrub lactic acid from his muscles and stave off fatigue. Ren had always known he wasn’t an aura powerhouse like Jaune or Nora. Hell Rena had told him as much when she unlocked his aura back when she had first started training him. Instead it had and always would come down to his efficiency, using his aura as well as he possibly could at every given moment. Well now that practice was definitely paying off and how could those little ones run so fast with the stubby legs?

It had been annoying to Ren how well the digimon were keeping ahead of the team in spite of the squad’s greater familiarity with Vale and their equipment. Well it had been annoying for about five minutes until his semblance rose up and smothered the emotion, sometimes his semblance actually was quite handy to have even if Ren didn’t alway care for it. ‘ _ Still,’ _ Ren grunted to himself as he coated Stormflower’s blades in aura before stabbing them into the brick wall in front of him to lift himself up and over after the targets that had jumped, flown, and climbed over it.  _ ‘Those lines she was using looked handy, maybe a grappling hook or something I could wear or put on Stormflower?’ _

The wave of gunfire the larger digimon shrugged off as Ren made contact left him grimacing as well. Maybe it would be good to add a little more stopping power somehow too. After that though there wasn’t much time for regrets in weapon choice and future plans for upgrades as the squad in its entirety was beginning to catch up to their quarry and the chase turned into a running battle.

Ren dropped to his knees and slid under a lightning bolt from the pink beetle before springing back up to his feet in a sprint and was overtaken by a sparking Nora, manic grin stretched over her face as she leapt ahead of him in one giant bound. Wrapped in the electricity from the bug digimon before slamming her hammer down onto the green lizardman who blocked the blow with the massive blade on his back before letting the momentum from the tiny berserker’s swing carry him forward adding to his momentum.

The unfamiliar form of Demi’s new digivolution lunged forward to catch Nora as she was knocked back by the force of her own swing before depositing her next to Ren as she hit the ground running but Ren was already dodging to the side and away from his sister to avoid the claws of a yellow dinosaur wearing a fur pelt. Ren lashed out with a kick to try and trip up the the stout digimon but was cut off by a large red boxing glove in the face as Ren’s head was knocked back by a vicious blow from a canine digimon that would’ve had him dropping flat on his back were he not caught by the around the arms by Jaune and Yatsuhashi before the two set him back on his feet as the chase continued with a blossoming pain spreading over the bridge of Ren’s nose and across his face. That had been a cheap hit.

The battle continued as both sides took potshots at each other. The digi thieves desperate to escape and the huntsmen just as desperate not to let them get away. Ren almost didn’t notice it at first when it started happening, he had never been there when one formed before but there were the unmistakable wisps of rainbow tinted mist flowing through the air around them. Another rift was forming but how had they known it would be here? Did they summon it? Create it? Did they just happen to get very, very lucky?

As of right now it didn’t matter as Ren flared his aura and pushed himself even harder. If this kept up the enemies would escape again. Ren opened up with Stormflower pouring all of his ammo into the group in front of him trying to slow them down. “They’re opening another rift!” He shouted over the roar of his own gunfire.

The battle grew more frantic as the huntsmen realized more than ever before time was not on their side. Ren caught a glimpse of Jaune raising his shield, a barrier forming in front of him as the dinosaur with the fur coat from before turned around at the same time as another yellow lizard and the two let loose a torrent of blue and orange flame that washed over Ren’s leader.

The canine boxer from before ran in with another punch but Ren was ready for him this time, sidestepping the strike only to end up walking straight into the sharp, waiting claws of another digimon as the dull pain that signaled a future bruise blossomed in his side even as his aura stopped him from being impaled. This wasn’t good, most protracted battles weren’t this intense and they were all starting to get tired yet the digimon that outnumbered them had more breathing room as they simply let someone else take the lead for a moment and some of the small ones were even carried by the larger ones.

The huntsman team in comparison was breathing hard and for some of them ammo was starting to get low. They had been running on adrenaline from the moment their scrolls beeped and while Ren truly believed this was some of the best fighting he had ever done and team CFVY was a massive boon that didn’t change the fact that eventually adrenaline ran out and they were all still getting tired. 

Demi had fallen out of his digivolution somewhere along the line and was simply doing his best to keep up throwing headbutts and punches where he could. Pyrrha still moved quickly but it lacked some of that machinelike efficiency and dancer’s grace the gladiatrix typically had. Team CFVY was fairing better but not by much, Coco and Yatsuhashi were lagging behind just a bit and even Velvet was starting to breathe hard. Ren had no idea how many hardlight weapons the rabbit faunus had gone through in the battle. He was pretty sure he had caught her using a glowing version of Stormflower at some point though and for the life of him Ren could not remember when the girl had gotten his picture.

Ren watched as Jaune had apparently decided not to leave anything else in reserve as his leader began to shine with a brilliant white-gold light that erupted from under his skin. Jaune using his semblance to burn through his aura and boost himself, exploding forward with renewed vigour as the team leader turned into a burning comet headed straight for the leonine leader of the digi-raiders, his strength, speed, and durability heightened to a point Ren could only envy and admire. But it was ultimately pointless.

“ **BEAST OF THE EARTH!** ” The lion mon shouted as he turned around and punched the ground, a crackling brownish orange crystal of earth dust clutched firmly in his hand as a thick stone wall sprang up between the as Jaune hit with a sickening sound before bouncing off and landing on his back. The rift was fully formed now and time was running out.

“NORA!” Ren heard Jaune shout as he picked himself up and started moving back from the stone wall. “UNLOAD!”

Six dull thunks sounded in quick succession as Nora fired Magnhild. Six sharp taps as the canisters struck stone. One loud roar as all of them exploded, shattering the wall the leonine digimon had formed and blinding the group as stone shrapnel rained around them and thick pink smoke enveloped them.

Then they were through and the smoke dissipated to an empty lot. No digimon and no rainbow tinted mist signaling a rift. They had escaped. Again.

\--HoH--

Gui gulped air as he rested his claws on his knees. That had been a nightmare of a fight and the enemy had gotten away again and now Jaune and Coco were fighting.

“What was that firstie!?” The fashionista snarled. “We had them and then you just let them get away at the last second!”

“It’s alright Coco,” Jaune raised his hands in front of him as he tried to reason with the irate huntress. “I warned you that this was gonna be rough and to expect the worst. Honestly this is still a partial victory since they didn’t get away with any of the dust.”

“Partial? We had them dead to rights and trapped on this side! How were they able to get away? Did you know they could make rifts? What about the Dust weaponry? We had no intel!”

Gui shrank back as the two argued back and forth. Jaune trying his best to add a brightside to the situation and Coco unwilling to settle for anything less than absolute victory. The arguing would lull and spring back up in fits as Oobleck and Uncle Rex questioned them on the battle and how the enemy escaped. The current hypothesis being that the tentomon with the big scroll had been able to track where rifts could form or could make rifts or something like that and that was how they had escaped.

Gui.... honestly hadn’t been playing that close attention, his mind was still stuck on one thing even as they rode the bullhead back to campus. Why hadn’t he been able to digivolve? Growlmon would’ve been too big during the warehouse but during the chase and at the end when the rift formed Growlmon would’ve been useful. Big enough with long enough legs to close the gap and enough strength and firepower to handle at least one of the enemy champions all by himself. Demi had digivolved just fine in both fights so why couldn’t Gui? What was the block? “Why couldn’t your dinosaur change shape too? The blue one did and he was able to tie things up just fine.” 

Coco’s voice cut through Gui’s thoughts even as they eerily echoed each other. Picking his head up Gui tuned back in to the ongoing argument between the two leaders and was audience to the sight of Jaune actually losing his temper.

“He’s fine Coco,” Jaune bit back through gritted teeth trying to be polite but Gui could tell his brother was on the edge already and his motion sickness wasn’t helping, the medicine having worn off long ago. “He contributed more than enough. I told you we had next to no intel and didn’t know what to expect. I told you things were likely to go sideways. And I told you this was going to be a tough fight and not to underestimate them and what was the first thing you did? Kick in the front door for the sake of showing off? And then when it became a running fight who was stuck hanging near the back when it was all going down Coco? The fact of the matter is I told you this was going to be rough and you still went in there cocky and what do you know things got rough. We still did better than last time. I’m willing to take the wins where I can get them.”

Jaune’s voice had risen steadily throughout the speech both in volume and intensity and while he never shouted at his fellow leader it was obvious to everyone there he had very much lost his temper with the situation too. Gui didn’t know if she wasn’t used to being challenged or if something Jaune had said struck a chord with the older girl but Coco had gotten quiet after that. The rest of the flight back to the campus was a sullen silence as the two teams processed the latest failure and when the bullhead docked the two teams split off without much in the way of goodbyes aside from an apology from Velvet and quick hug from her for both him and Jaune.

The team made their way up to their dorms to find the familiar sight of team RWBY’s door open and when Gui peaked his head in to say hi he was met with an equally tense silence inside the dorm room. One thing ran through Gui’s mind at that moment though. Where was Blake?

  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTE:**

**Hey everybody no long note this time really. I hope you’re all enjoying my first semi-original arc for Huntsman of the Digital Hazard as I look forward to working on it. We ought be wrapping up volume 1 of RWBY next chapter and after a quick breather chapter or two we’ll be heading into volume 2 where the action will pick up and more shipping shenanigans will hit the fan lol.**

**I’m still not super sure about making Nora’s Arc official this chapter but at the same time I was kinda like, they’ve basically been going out and kinda dating for two or three months in universe everyone is commenting on how close they are, might as well just make it official instead of drawing out a storyline unnecessarily for the sake of drama. Hate that kinda storytelling lol.**

**Uh tiny heads up! For those who haven’t checked it out yet my short Lancaster fic When The Search Ends will be finishing next week. If you haven’t checked it out yet now is definitely a great time!**

**Have a great day everyone! Don’t forget to love each other!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I OWN NOTHING**

"Blake!"

"Blaaaake!"

The voices rang out on the streets of Vale as the students looked for their friend. Jaune….. honestly wasn't sure how to feel about the situation. He had figured out early on that his corner buddy was a faunus. It might not have been immediately obvious to their teams but the signs were there if you knew to look for them. Like the way her bow never actually blew in the wind but would suddenly twitch on its own out of nowhere or the way it would take her a moment to react when the lights went out or things got dark all of a sudden. Like she forgot that she shouldn't be able to see. That had been a big one for Jaune growing up as his sisters had never been particularly shy about using their night vision for pranks, or 'intensive training' as Verde called it.

No, her status as a faunus was both no surprise to Jaune and also none of his business to be spreading out. If Blake wanted to hide her nature and heritage that was between her and the One Who Lived in the Shallow Sea. She definitely had to have her own reasons and Jaune respected that. The White Fang though… Jaune would hold his tongue and his decision until he found her and they could talk things out properly. 

“Jaune I’m starting to get worried.” Jaune heard Nora speak up from his right. When they had grouped up with the rest of team RWBY to find their missing teammate they had split into three groups of three to cover more ground, he, Nora, and Gui had been one. “She ran off last night, we’ve been searching most of the day, and there’s still been no sign of her. What if Blake, like, actually ran away for real and not just to cool off?”

Jaune felt a bone weary sigh bubble up from inside and made no effort to hold it in as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I am too Nora,” Jaune responded honestly. Blake was a trained huntress but bad things could still happen and there had been no news at all. It was getting scary for all of them and only becoming more so as time passed, but they needed to keep hoping. “I don’t think she’d do it though, at this point I’m pretty sure Beacon is home for all of us. We just need to be patient and keep looking yeah?” Jaune reassured the carrot top as he reached out an arm and wrapped his girlfriend(? Still weird to say or think that, gave him butterflies in his stomach.) in a hug as they walked.

The ensuing silence was comfortable and warm in spite of the tension the two felt at the situation and lasted maybe half a minute before it was broken by a loud growl from behind the two of them. Turning Jaune found Gui rubbing his stomach in embarrassment as he looked at the both of them sheepishly. Jaune would’ve teased his brother over it if his own stomach hadn’t started rumbling immediately after. 

“Heh,” Jaune laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his freehand. “It has been a little while. Maybe we could stop and grab some lunch?”

“....I dunno Jaune,” Nora responded quietly, well quietly for Nora. “Feels kinda wrong to stop and grab a bite while we still don’t know if Blake is okay or not…” The normally boisterous ginger trailed off.

“I mean… yeah it kinda does,” Jaune acknowledged, still holding the girl in a side hug as they walked or, well, she was more holding him at this point. “But we need to eat sometime and we’re not helping Blake any better if we fall to pieces looking for her. Maybe we could hit two birds with one stone? There’s that coffeeshop that Blake mentioned a while back that we could check out?”

“The one on eighth?”

“Yeah it should be on the route anyway.” Jaune confirmed as the two maintained their pace and he scanned the streets for any sign of their missing friend.

“Yeah, that sounds good Jaune-Jaune.” Nora said as she pulled him in just a bit tighter into the hug before letting go and drifting apart, still holding his hand and Jaune couldn’t help blushing a bit. He was gonna need to get used to a bit more physical affection it seemed. It was…… nice, just different and he really shouldn’t be thinking about how Nora’s hand could feel so warm and soft while being so calloused when he should be focused on finding his missing, possibly terrorist, friend.

The group continued their slow, meandering walk through the city with their new destination in mind, while still keeping an eye out for their friend. As the group reached the coffeeshop Jaune sighed in relief as he caught sight of a familiar head of black hair…. and quickly quirked a brow in confusion as he caught sight of a familiar head of blonde hair… and a face… and abs…

“Sun what are you doing here?” Jaune asked incredulously as his group closed in on the two, Nora and Gui quickly grabbing seats at the table. From the corner of his eye Jaune caught a glimpse of Nora going in for a hug with a wary and slightly embarrassed looking Blake while Gui quickly grabbed a menu and started flipping through it. “Better question, why are you here? Is Sham with you?”

“Hey dude! Long time no see!” Jaune could feel the confusion covering his face even as Sun stepped up and wrapped him in a hug that Jaune awkwardly returned. “Hey Blake, this is my buddy Jaune!” Sun said to the quiet girl cheerily as he slung an arm across Jaune’s shoulders. “He’s with the Vale branch of the DHI. Have you met him? He should be in your year.”

“We’ve met once or twice.” Blake responded sardonically as Jaune fought the urge to roll his eyes, she looked tired. Apparently the last night had been a bit rough for the faunus girl and Jaune felt the worry that had faded over the course of the day surge once again even as she waved off Nora’s attempts to fuss over her and make sure she was alright.

“Really good guy!” Sun followed up as he shook Jaune back and forth with the grip around his shoulders. “Kinda awkward and tends to puke on airships but still really solid. If you ask him for anything he’ll try and follow through as best he can, like that one time during the conference in Argus when Neptune met that one girl but there was another guy chatting her up so Jaune’s sister put him in a dress and-”

“THANK YOU! SUN!” Jaune certainly did not screech as he had a deep, commanding, manly voice that certainly did not crack when he was panicking or embarrassed. No sir. Anyway what was more important was, “Sun you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here. Where’s Sham? Where’s Neptune?”

“Oh they’re back at Haven!” Jaune felt his eye twitch at the admission from his monkey faunus friend. 

“And why are you here without them?” Jaune asked, already dreading the answer. Sun was amazingly good people, and genuinely smarter than people gave him credit for at first. But…..

“I decided to head out to Vale early to take in the sights before the Vytal Tournament. You gonna be competing too bro?” Sun asked with his usual cheer as Jaune sighed and did his best to ignore the giggling coming from Nora and Blake at his expense. At least they were laughing.

“So you left your team and digimon partner behind without saying anything to travel halfway across the world by yourself. How did you even afford the tickets?”

“Oh! I remembered to leave a note this time! Then I stowed away and did freebie hunter work for the ship on the way over! They decided to call the cops on me when I arrived anyway though since I was still technically a stowaway. Kinda a dick move but what can ya do?” Jaune wanted to be able to act surprised at the omission. He wanted to be able to get angry at the flippant way Sun brought up and subsequently disregarded what had happened. He wanted a lot of things at the moment. But he would settle for slapping his, usually, long distance friend up the back of the head. “Ow! Dude!? Why!?”

“Sun that’s a real dick move bro. You know Sham and Nep are gonna be worrying about you. Even with a note if you went by boat how long did it take you to get here… Sun how long ago did you leave? You know Sham’s gonna be stupid worried about you dude. Plus I think as a member of the DHI taking off and leaving your partner behind like that along with the stowing away thing might actually cause an international incident if we don’t go talk to the Doc and Ozpin. Like, today. The sooner the better” Jaune’s voice didn’t rise as he dressed down his friend even as Sun began to look properly ashamed. That didn’t stop him from using his ultimate move though. “Sun, dude, I’m not even mad about this anymore. I’m just kinda disappointed.”

“...I’m sorry man…” Sun quietly said as Jaune watched his shoulders and tail both droop. “I just wanted to take a trip on my own for a bit…”

“And I can understand that dude, but still you have a team now and need to make sure you’re on the same page as them.” Jaune did his best to reason with his friend. “You can’t just run off solo anymore, what’s your team leader gonna think?”

“Oh! I’m actually the leader!” The monkey faunus piped up cheerfully and Jaune was taken off guard by the shift in attitude well enough that what his friend actually said almost didn’t process.

“....You left your team and your partner by themselves with only a note to explain and no warning AND you’re the leader?” Jaune just deadpanned back at his friend. He couldn’t even muster the energy to be surprised anymore.

“Yup! Leader of team SSSN! Best team in Mistral.” Sun grinned as he shared the news of his leader position on a team that shared his own name.

Jaune… Jaune would just need to handle the rest of that later and get Sun to call Sham and his team after getting him checked in with the Doc and the Headmaster. For now he should probably address the actual reason they were out there. “That’s great bud. I’m happy for you. Truly. Blake is there any chance I could talk to you real quick? Just the two of us?” Jaune asked awkwardly, changing the subject as he rubbed the back of his head.

“...sure….” Blake responded neutrally, her guard back up from the momentary levity and Jaune flinched. He hadn’t meant for that to happen, he just wanted to talk to her.

The two stepped away from the table as Jaune offered what he hoped was a reassuring nod and smile towards Nora and Gui. Jaune rounded the corner near the coffeeshop, following Blake and the two stopped once they felt they were completely out of ear shot. The two simply stood there a moment, Blake staring up at Jaune, tension clear in her frame while Jaune scratched at a cheek awkwardly as he tried to pick his next words carefully. As the moment began to drag on though Jaune decided that just maybe, honest and blunt would be the best way to approach the situation. “Are you okay? You don’t look like you slept well.”

“Is that your idea of breaking the ice?” Blake snorted back at Jaune as the cat faunus looked at him in vague disbelief. “I expected accusations and anger.”

“I’m not mad Blake,” Jaune said softly as he looked down the alleyway away from his friend, not willing to meet her eyes. “I’ve just been worried… and kind of scared if I’m being honest.”

“Well nothing to be scared about.” Jaune heard Blake grind out behind him. “I’m perfectly fine, just a bit tired and hungry. I forgot my wallet in the dorm when I left to get some air.”

“Getting air huh? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” When his attempt at a joke was met with sullen silence Jaune did his best to push through and continue on with the conversation. “I wasn’t scared for you Blake, or well I was but not just scared for you. Mostly since I found out about the White Fang thing I think I’ve kinda been scared of you a little bit and that’s not fair to you, so I wanted to have this talk if that’s ok?” Jaune finished awkwardly as he crossed his arms in front of him. The words had come out jumbled, and he’d stumbled over them, but the sharp intake of breath he heard from Blake told him she had heard what he’d said.

“Afraid of me?” Blake asked in a half shout and Jaune flinched at the surprised offense in her tone. “Jaune, why would you be afraid of me? You’re part faunus too!”

Jaune rubbed the back of his head as he looked down to the raven haired girl next to him before starting his explanation. “Well yeah Blake,  _ part _ faunus. My family has had… an awkward relationship with the Fang since well before I was born because of it. I... this is probably gonna be a long story if that’s ok?”

At Blake’s nod Jaune leaned against the wall of the building and began his story. “So you know my uncle fought in the faunus wars and that’s how he and my dad met and how dad met mom right? Well after that all went down my uncle actually joined the White Fang back when your parents were in charge, mom would have too if she hadn’t been focused on starting a family with dad and pregnant with my oldest sister Cerise.”

“What do you mean my parents? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Blake defended as she tried to wave off his comments.

“You’re not related to Kali and Ghira Belladona?” That had actually surprised Jaune, “My bad, I mean you kinda look just like both of them and have the same last name. I just kinda assumed you were at least related, sorry.”

“I mean… they’re not, not my parents?” Blake flinched before awkwardly ducking her head at the admission and Jaune couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up and out of him at her reaction.

“Anywayyyy,” Jaune laughed as he continued his story. “My family has kinda been tied to the faunus rights movement for a long time, pretty much up until your parents stepped down. Then things kinda started taking a turn and tolerance and equality turned to revenge and supremacy. People who my mom and dad were both friends with started treating them differently, didn’t want to interact with my dad and looked down on my mom for not being with a nice faunus boy and having two human daughters.”

“The White Fang  _ isn’t _ like that!” Blake insisted and Jaune looked down to see his corner buddy glaring up at him part with anger and part with something that looked a lot like desperation to Jaune. “The Fang is about equality for everyone! Peaceful protest just wasn’t working so we needed to  _ make _ humanity listen.”

“Blake, I’m not gonna pretend to be educated on everything about faunus oppression,” Jaune admitted freely as he rubbed the back of his head. “But I do know the things I myself have experienced and the things my uncle has told me when I asked him about all of this, and the way he explained it to me was when you radicalize a movement you by  _ default _ welcome in people with radical opinions and ways of thinking. People who start to take the lead and take on positions of power. It makes me feel better to hear you say that, but are you sure the White Fang isn’t like that? Or is it just that  _ you _ aren’t like that?”

“We just wanted to be left alone and treated equally... “ Blake insisted, still bullheaded and stubborn.

“And I just want to visit menagerie without having to worry about being on the receiving end of a hate crime.” Jaune shot back at his feline friend. “And I can’t say I have it much better with humans when they find out. You were there with the whole Cardin thing, you know what it was like. I just... faunus are people just like humans and digimon, yeah? Well that means all of them are perfectly capable of being assholes.” Jaune paused to take a breath and tried to let the tension bleed out of his shoulders. Pent up frustration with both sides was bleeding through and that was in no way fair to Blake.

“On the one side I’ve grown up with humans who treat my mom poorly and act like she used my dad to try and marry up with whispers about whether my faunus sisters were actually dad’s daughters.” Jaune muttered as he began pacing back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Blake’s face twisted in disgust, and it looked like she wanted to say something but Jaune gave her no time to do so.

“On the other side I had FAUNUS that treated our family as a problem, my mom and uncle were race traitors and me and my sisters were abominations.” Jaune’s hands we’re moving now, it was a bad habit of his. Whenever he got animated or particularly agitated he had a tendency to speak with his hands, waving them in the air in front of him. It was why he had trained himself toward rubbing the back of his head instead, but these were old wounds being unearthed and it brought back old habits.

“You’ll never be human enough for the humans and you’ll never be faunus enough for the faunus.” Jaune growled as he picked up the pace in their little alleyway. Blake looked torn and uncomfortable like she wanted to chip in or say something but couldn’t decide what it was she wanted to say and Jaune couldn’t bring himself to stop now anyway. Things he’d let build up most of his life were pouring out and he couldn’t couldn’t even try to swallow it back up.

“I grew up with the traditions and know them better than some actual faunus. I grew up following the faith of the Shallow Sea and it was never and will never be good enough.” Jaune said, hands waving in front of him not in wild swings, but directly in front of his chest like there was too much nervous energy and the frantic gesturing was the only way to release it. “And if I’m ever lucky enough to actually  _ have _ kids there’s a chance, small mind you but still a chance, that even if I end up with a human girl, even if things between me and Nora work out amazingly and she doesn’t finally get sick of me, that we’ll have a faunus child. And what’s that gonna be like? What’s that gonna be like Blake? What’s that gonna be like for whoever my future wife is, when people look at her cross eyed since I don’t look faunus? People who will start whispering and assuming things.” 

Jaune looked at Blake, his friend’s face torn as she looked at him in some mix of horror and sympathy, Jaune let himself slump back against the wall and quietly admitted a fear that he had never once vocalized to anyone. “Blake, what’s that gonna be like for the baby?”

Jaune let loose a ragged sigh as he finished the tail end of his rant. That had gotten... intense. More so than he had intended and now he was just left tired, drained, and a little worried at Blake’s reaction. Turning, Jaune looked to see his corner buddy taken aback and seeming unsure of what to say. Eventually though she seemed to gather her thoughts and opened with a simple question, “So when did you and Nora finally make it official?”

“...Really Blake?” Jaune deadpanned as he mock-glared at his friend.

“I mean you guys have been doing the dating-not-dating thing for a while now. Yang was talking about running bets for how long it took you two to finally figure it out.” Blake defended, hands up in front of her and a nonchalant look on her face.

“Yang can talk about my love life when she finally asks out Pyrrha,” Jaune muttered sullenly before speaking up. “I was making a point you know?”

“I know Jaune, and I believe you’ve met some of the bad apples from the Fang but I can’t believe that the whole Fang is like that. There are good people there who just want equality, something we shouldn’t have to fight for in the first place. Why would they be robbing dust stores in Vale Jaune? How does that further the cause? The Fang aren’t like that, we can’t let ourselves be like that. And I’ll prove it to you. I just need a little more time.” The black cat faunus pleaded as she stared up at Jaune, fierce determination in her eyes alongside that same desperation that he had seen before. Jaune sighed to himself in resignation, he would never be able to convince her like this. Her mind was already made up.

“Fine,” Jaune relented, “But Nora, Gui, and me are coming along too. Now come on.” Jaune said as he stepped away from the wall and back around the corner.

“Where are we going?” Jauned heard Blake ask in confusion from behind him. 

“Back to the coffee shop to pick up the others.” Jaune explained as he continued walking. “Plus, I still wanna eat lunch before we start hunting down a cell of radicals that hate my guts. I’m starving.”

\--HoH--

“Blaaaaaake!”

“Where ya at Blakey!?”

Pyrrha scanned the crowd of the busy street looking for her erstwhile friend. The news about Blake being a faunus had been a shock and her being a member of the White Fang was even more shocking still. 

Pyrrha honestly wasn’t entirely sure why the bookish girl felt she needed to hide her nature in the first place. A fear of prejudice? Running from her past? And when she got to know them why keep it a secret from them? Velvet was a friend to all of them, Jaune was half faunus, Gui and Demi were much stranger and got along just fine with the group, and some people liked to assume things since she was Mistrali but Pyrrha had very nearly been raised by Coach Chiron. The old horse faunus was very nearly a father to her after her own had died when she was young.

There were dozens of possible reasons and Pyrrha had no clue which was the correct one, it had been running through her mind all day and she was no closer to something resembling an answer than when she started. Compounding that, Pyrrha was getting worried about the other member of her team in the search. Yang had been fine at the start when they had first split up but the normally cheerful and upbeat girl had become quiet as time passed. Shifting between nervous energy and sullen silence in waves Yang was obviously distressed. Pyrrha had to do something to help, but she wasn’t quite sure what that should be. 

Maybe something to distract Yang and take her mind off of it? But what could she suggest? They had just done lunch an hour ago so food was out. Shopping and a lot of the other things they liked to come out to Vale to do were out of the question while Blake was missing. Pyrrha could try just straight up asking Yang what was wrong but wouldn’t that be rude or intrusive? What if Yang just got defensive and closed herself off more? What if-

“So are you okay Yang? You’ve been kinda off since we left your team earlier?” Pyrrha’s thought processes performed the mental equivalent of a record scratch as her partner went through with the course of action Pyrrha had just finished deciding was a terrible idea.

“Yes? No? I’m not really sure…” The blonde bruiser admitted as she rubbed her right arm and refused to look Pyrrha or Demi in the eye. Pyrrha felt something in her own heart wrench just a little at seeing this out of character, vulnerable, Yang.

“Do ya wanna talk about it?” Demi asked with a closed eye smile and his hands behind his head as he faced Yang, face tilted up. The three had stopped walking now and Pyrrha was panicking. This was a terrible idea! She had just decided against this very course of action! Why did Demi always do this kind of thi-

“Sure.” Yang answered, voice dull. What?

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with.” Pyrrha responded, genuinely surprised that the little mon’s attempt had worked… again… Pyrrha really needed to stop being surprised. He was much more perceptive than anyone ever actually gave him credit for.

“It’s cool,” Yang responded in that same dull tone as she continued to rub her right arm. “Thinking about it hasn’t exactly been helping any. Maybe saying it out loud will.”

“Then we’re here to listen,” Pyrrha promised, feeling something cold and resolute flow through her and nestle in her spine, giving her strength that she lacked before. Her insecurities were not more important than what was bothering Yang and she refused to let them stop her from being there for someone she cared about.

Pyrrha waited patiently as Yang was quiet for a moment, the girl seemed to be gathering her thoughts or trying to pick the right words or, maybe, she was just deciding whether or not she actually wanted to go through with the conversation. “It’s just…” Yang opened slowly and quietly. “Why hasn’t she come back?”

“Blake runs off all the time, that’s nothing new.” Yang continued as Pyrrha nodded in acknowledgement, the Belladona girl had a tendency to wander off and disappear for random amounts of time. “But she always came back too. I thought last night she would be back to the dorm after cooling off and we could all talk it out, but she never came back. I waited up to try and make sure she made it home safe, and she never came back. I kept calling her scroll, and she never picked up. What… what if she just never comes back to the team?”

“Then that would be what Blake chooses.” Pyrrha answered honestly, surprising herself. “It might be rough Yang but Blake is a grown woman and she has the right to just decide to leave if she wants to. But I don’t think she’ll do that.”

As the look on Yang’s face changed from stricken to confused at what Pyrrha had to say, the invincible girl was doing her best to continue her train of thought and praying to whoever would listen that she didn’t screw this up. “All of you as a team and all of us as friends have grown so close in the past few months. I can’t see Blake just running off on all of you like that Yang, on all of us. She’s your partner right? And friends fight and sometimes people handle the stress from that in different ways. I don’t know Blake as well as you, Jaune, and Nora do, but she obviously prefers to keep to herself and process things on her own. Maybe she just had a lot to process this time?”

“I mean… yeah,” Yang admitted quietly. “But the look on her face Pyrrha, she looked so mad and so scared at the same time, and Weiss was saying some messed up stuff that I can tell she kinda regrets too but she’s too proud to admit it and what if the whole team falls apart right when we had finally gotten comfortable? …..Right when I had finally gotten comfortable?”

“Yang…” Pyrrha opened slowly as she leaned in closer to her companion, concern spreading across her face. “Is this really all about Blake?”

Pyrrha watched as Yang grunted, shifted from side to side, and finally sighed while rubbing her right arm. “Will you be mad if I say no? It’s just… something old and really personal. I’ll tell you what it is someday, just not now.” The blonde bruiser asked quietly, not meeting Pyrrha’s eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me at all if you don’t want to.” Pyrrha responded honestly, and moved to explain herself at Yang’s surprised look. “It’s not my business Yang and this is obviously something important to you that also hurts. If you want to tell me, I’ll listen, and if you don’t that’s fine too. I’ll still be here for you.” Pyrrha promised as she pulled Yang into a hug and if there was a slight dampness on her shoulder where Yang’s head rested Pyrrha would refuse to ever acknowledge it. It was time to be there for Yang, just like Yang was there for Pyrrha months ago.

“Thanks Pyr,” Yang whispered before pulling away and smiling and if her eyes were a different kind of red from usual, well, Pyrrha wasn’t going to say anything about that either. “Ughh, I’m a mess.”

“You’re fine,” Pyrrha assured her fellow huntress. “You’ve had a rough day as it is, you don’t need to be a hundred percent put together all the time. I promise.”

“Thank you again Pyrrha,” Yang said with a gentle smile up towards the gladiatrix that Pyrrha returned. Things obviously weren’t perfect or really fixed but Yang was definitely looking better. Now they just needed to find Blake and they could all head back-. The thought was cut off though as Pyrrha heard the sound of a distant explosion and saw smoke rising over the city from the direction of the docks.

“Five lien says that’s where Blake is.” Pyrrha heard her digimon partner quip as she stared dumbfounded at the rising smoke.

“Bum odds,” Yang snarked.

\--HoH--

“BLAAAAAKE!”

“Blake where are you!?”

Weiss snorted as her partner shouted out looking for the imposter. They should be calling the police for that… that… terrorist! She was probably waiting, waiting for the right time to strike. To tear her head off as a prize for the Fang as their most feared assassin…

Except assassin’s didn’t leave their target unharmed for three months when sleeping in the same room together every night did they? They didn’t help their target with literature homework because how was she to know what pretentious symbolism their professor was trying to shoehorn into the narrative that was fairly simple and completely fine the way it was. She was even more certain that assassins didn’t enjoy tea time with their targets multiple times a week because their other two teammates were heathens, that couldn’t be bothered to enjoy a proper tea time.

No, the Belladonna girl probably wasn’t an assassin, but even then she could be there for intelligence gathering or something. Maybe she was planning to go after SDC shipments from things Weiss had let slip? What if they were targeting her family back in Atlas? What if they went after Klein or Winter? What if? What if? What if?

Weiss groaned as she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, her logic was faulty at the moment and she didn’t like it. The heiress lacked the information to properly come to a conclusion on just how and why Blake Belladonna had come to Beacon and made her way onto Weiss’ team and Weiss did not care for it. Things were easier when they could be fit into boxes and archived, but her teammate had managed to shred her box from the inside out in minutes the night before and there wasn’t enough tape in the world for Weiss to begin putting it back together.

Something of Weiss’ mood must’ve shown on her face, because the normally silent member of her group decided to speak up, “A lien for your thoughts?”

Weiss turned up to see the stoic face of Lie Ren looking down at her, not unkindly, just the man wasn’t expressive at the best of times. “I am… conflicted.” Weiss admitted as she looked at her friend? Acquaintance? She liked Ren just fine but they had never really properly spoken before… huh? That was odd considering how much time their teams spent together.

“That makes sense.” The green gunslinger said as he nodded slightly in what Weiss assumed was understanding and then promptly said nothing else.

Well that was… anticlimactic. What was the point of that? “It’s just…. My family has been under almost constant threat from the White Fang for as long as I can remember. One time when I was 12 they firebombed a refinery that I was touring alongside my father. I don’t know if they knew we were there or not but I still remember the heat and have a scar on my stomach from that day and it wasn’t the only time. It’s just the time they got closest.” Weiss trailed off, uncertain as to whether she was being a bother as she looked to her quiet companion while Ruby continued to shout for their missing teammate. Weiss was honestly grateful for her partner’s loud nature for once, if it allowed her to have a quiet conversation with some separated from the situation for advice.

“I see,” the quiet gunslinger said, and as Weiss waited for him to continue or say  _ anything _ else really he simply turned and gave her what Weiss assumed was a questioning look which she took as her signal to continue the story.

“But Blake is the same age as me, so she couldn’t have been one of the ones to do it right? Surely they wouldn’t have her running missions that young? But she was still one of them and it’s not like that was the only attack against my company or family.” Weiss slowed as she kicked the ground with her toe as she considered something she wouldn’t have admitted outloud to any of her teammates.

“Are they even wrong to attack us?” Weiss whispered as she slowly shuffled along, not looking at Ren. “I know what they say about our company, and while some of it isn’t true, a lot of it is. I know my father has made the SDC powerful at the expense of dragging its name through the mud. He treats low level employees terribly, both human and faunus alike, even if faunus get the worst of it. I know he uses company towns to keep them in debt and compliant and it’s disgusting. I just… can’t do anything about it yet.”

“Weiss,” she heard Ren open slowly, picking his words. The poor boy sounded uncomfortable, oh no Weiss had made it awkward and made him feel uncomfortable hadn’t she? Oh no, that wasn’t what she had wanted. Oh he was talking again now, “This has told me a lot about how you feel about the White Fang and your company, but it still doesn’t say much about what exactly is bothering you about the Blake situation personally.”

Weiss furrowed her brow as she considered his statement before answering, “I think I’m afraid... that she was never actually my friend.” The snow haired girl admitted quietly. “That I was just a target that she was playing a long con on. And if I was just a target would she even be wrong in the matter? I know logically that it’s more than a bit unlikely but…”

“But you’re still scared.” Ren finished quietly as Weiss chewed nervously on her thumb nail and nodded. “I think it is unlikely as well that she would fake this convincingly the entire time, and just because your father did bad things doesn’t mean you’re required to pay for his sins. Most importantly though Weiss, trying to think it out obviously isn’t helping so maybe it would be better to go to the source for your answer when we find her.”

“So just… ask her?” Weiss asked incredulously. 

“Yes.” Ren answered simply as he nodded down at her. 

THAT! Honestly wasn’t a bad idea… was it actually that simple? “Just go up and ask her: Belladona are you still a member of the White Fang and secretly planning to attack, kidnap, or interrogate me for information?” Weiss asked Ren as she looked up at the gunslinger in surprise. The thought had honestly never occurred to her.

“Maybe not using those words but yes,” Ren nodded. “You have little to lose and much to gain by simply asking honestly.”

Huh, “Thank you Ren,” Weiss muttered quietly as she reached a hand up to awkwardly pat the boy on the shoulder as thanks for his assistance. She was genuinely appreciative to have someone a little less close and loud to talk to about this. As much as she appreciated her teammates, they just didn’t get it, they knew Blake but they didn’t know the Fang, not really. 

Well that and Ruby wanted to think the best of nearly everyone. An unbiased viewpoint her team leader was very much not. Actually… where was… “Ren where’s Ruby?”

“She left with some girl with orange hair that she seemed to know saying they were going to split up to cover more ground.” Weiss blinked owlishly at the answer. Had she really been paying that little attention?

“Well if that’s the case I suppose it’s fine,” Weiss muttered. “It’s probably that Penny girl from yesterday and she seemed nice enough, if a little awkward. I can’t see them getting into too much trou-” 

At that moment there was a sound like thunder nearby and a smoke started billowing from the direction of the docks. Weiss groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose again before breaking into a run. The odds were decent that at least one of her teammates was there and directly connected to the explosion.

\--HoH--

Blake wasn’t quite sure when things had taken the wrong turn they did, but things had  _ definitely _ gone sideways. When she had gone to talk to the other members of the Fang and found out they actually had been working with Torchwick to steal dust, that had been a rude awakening. The Fang actually drawing weapons on her when she had commanded most of them not that long ago was even worse. The shot from Torchwick that Jaune had deflected off of his shield and had bounced into a crate of dust causing an explosion had definitely been a problem. Mostly now Blake was wondering why she was looking at a  _ very  _ large, tawny back as a fist roughly the size of her own torso swung for Torchwick.

“Get the dust! Don’t harm the children!” The lion digimon roared as he and his cohorts lept into battle and things devolved into a three way brawl. Blake watched as Jaune, Nora, and Gui moved to protect the dust crates from digimon and White Fang members alike even as Blake dashed in to fight against Torchwick alongside Sun. 

Everything was pure chaos and it wasn’t supposed to be like this. The White Fang was supposed to be a force for change, for equality! They weren’t supposed to be two bit thugs robbing random shops in Vale. They weren’t supposed to be working for a thug, a HUMAN thug like Torchwick this way. They weren’t supposed to prove Weiss and all the other things people said about them right.

The distraction almost cost Blake as she rolled to the right to avoid a blow from Torchwick, leaving behind a shadow clone as she attempted to dash behind him and strike using the distraction of her clone. Or that’s what should’ve happened. To the raven haired girl’s consternation her shadow clones were nearly worthless against Torchwick as the gangster seemed to always be able to tell where she really was. He had to be used to fighting someone with a semblance like her own and at this point Blake’s clones were all but pointless. 

Blake broke away as Sun stepped in to take her place. She needed something to change the dynamic of the fight, something, anything. Blake blinked dumbfounded as she saw Torchwick go horizontal midair as a bright red boxing glove flew in out of nowhere to catch Torchwick in the jaw as Pyrrha’s shield slammed into his legs…. that would work.

Turning her head, Blake saw Pyrrha, Yang, and Demi run onto the field from the edge of the rift as Pyrrha used her semblance to call her shield back to her arm. “Blake! What’s going on?” Yang shouted, eyes flashing between red and lilac as she readied herself for battle.

“Weiss was right, White Fang has actually gone bad, working for Torchwick, Digimon appeared.” Blake rattled off rapidly as she moved through the battlefield and ducked under an errant ball of fire that a yellow dinosaur had spat into the air. “The digimon are fighting the Fang and trying to avoid us, Jaune, Nora, and Gui are trying to protect the shipment from both the Fang and the digimon, and Sun and I were taking the fight to Roman Torchwick.” Blake bit out as she caught an overhead blow from a pipe between her sword and cleaver.

“Who’s Sun?” “Jaune’s penpal?” Yang and Pyrrha asked at the same time before each of the girls blinked and turned towards each other.

“The monkey faunus from yesterday and yes, I think so.” Blake answered each question before diving forward to catch the body of the monkey man in question as he dropped in front of the group.

“Ughh, I feel like I just got run over by a goliath,” Sun muttered with a shake of his head as Blake helped him to his feet. “So how are you ladies? And digidude?” He amended as he caught sight of Demi and joined the group as they tried to group back up on their other friends.

“Hello! I’m Pyrrha, it’s nice to meet you as well. I think you’re friends with my team leader?” Blake just watched as the gladiatrix said this in the most laid back manner possible as she simultaneously lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick, catching a Fang member in the temple and raised her shield to block a bolt of energy flying in from one of the digimon.

“Who’s your leader?” Blake just felt her brain go to white noise as she sidestepped a claw from a bird digimon while continuing her march. Were they really doing this?

“Jaune Arc.” Pyrrha answered simply as she threw her shield out like a frisbee catching that same bird digimon between the wings and dropping it before calling it back to her hand.

“Ohhhhh! You’re on Jaune’s team!? It’s good to meet you! He’s a solid dude, he been treating your team right? I got to meet his girlfriend earlier, she seemed really sweet.” Blake groaned internally, they really were doing this. Small talk in the middle of a battlefiel- oops. Blake hopped quickly over the body of one of the Fang members… was that Deery? What was the poor girl doing wrapped up in this mess? She had been one of the more moderate members of their cell. 

“He’s been a wonderful leader and a good friend. And I don’t think they’re officially dating yet? Maybe they are, if so it’s brand new. They’ve been “dating” for a couple months now though.” Pyrrha actually took a moment out of the fight to do the air quotes on the word dating. Blake could feel her sanity slipping. Why was this her life now? She must have picked the wrong corner the night before initiation. Any other would’ve kept her separate from Jaune and the insanity he carried with him.

“She introduced herself as his girlfriend at least. I think you’re right about it being really new though, she blushed and got kinda giggly when she said it.” Sun said as he fired off four rapid shots from his gunchucks.

“Dammit, I thought it was gonna take them until second semester at least. I owe Ruby two dozen cookies now. Good for vomit boy at least.” Blake felt her opinion of reality drop lower as he partner and teammate joined in the conversation. There! There was Jaune and Nora and Gui and the sweet siren song of people that hopefully had good sense. 

Jaune was glowing white from his semblance with a greatsword made of hardlight in his hands as he clashed blades with the lion digimon. Even as he held his ground though Nora and Gui were losing theirs. As far as Blake could see all the White Fang members were unconscious and now two other animalistic swordsmen, one lizard and the other a bird, were pushing back against the two, while the smaller ones dashed in to grab as much dust as they could.

And then they just stopped. The three digimon swordsmen broke away from their respective partners and grouped up near a pile of rookies offset from the group with a small pile of dust crates, all bearing the logo of the Schnee Dust Company. Blake moved to intercept as Jaune tried to rush the group as well, but both were brought to a halt by a single sentence.

“Stop please,” the soft, resonant voice of the lion-like digimon said. “You’ve done well today but we need these supplies just as you need to get stronger. Plus you seem to have your hands full with your enemies here.” He said, with something that was in between a chuckle and a purr in his voice. 

“Let us go in peace.” The lion mon said even as they all began to fade away and the rainbow tinted mist dispersed. 

What happened next was kind of a blur to Blake. The VPD and emergency services were waiting right outside the rift when it fell and they moved about the docks restraining and arresting the White Fang members that hadn’t been able to crawl away and escape in the confusion. To Blake’s complete lack of surprise Torchwick was still missing. He was a slippery bastard already and she wouldn’t be surprised if he had his own help waiting after the rift fell. Now Blake found herself in a side alley for a private conversation, twice in one day, with the Schnee heiress.

“Weiss you need to believe me, I had no idea the White Fang had slipped this far. I have no idea why they’re even working with a human criminal like-” Blake’s explanation was cut off though by an upraised finger from the heiress though as she gave Blake a stern look. That felt like a bad sign.

“I only have two questions for you Belladonna.” Blake cringed at the last name usage from Weiss, that was a bad sign, she was definitely not happy.

“Are you still with the White Fang?” The heiress asked imperiously as she pointed a finger up at Blake with more presence than one would expect from the tiny girl.

“No Weiss, I left them when they started-” 

“Ahpupupup,” Weiss cut off Blake’s explanation before she could even start. “You said no, that’s all I needed to hear. Now for my second question, we’re friends right? I wasn’t a mission so you could get at my family or hurt me?”

The question was so quiet and out of left field Blake had to take a moment to process what had actually been said to make sure she had heard right. The heiress was withdrawn and more vulnerable than Blake had ever seen the proud girl before, “Weiss what are you talking about? Of course we’re friends. Do you think I would put up with you as much as I do if we weren’t? There isn’t a single mission that would pay well enough to do it otherwise.” Blake awkwardly did her best to joke as a way to lighten the mood.

It seemed to work as the pale girl smiled, reaching in for a quick hug before separating and heading back to join the rest of their team. Blake had honestly expected that to go much worse than it actually had. A reunion with the rest of her team later and Blake found herself making her way back up to her dorm room for a much needed shower and sleep in a real bed. 

Blake had to hide a snort, three months of creature comforts had softened her up a bit it seemed. A quick nap before dinner couldn’t hurt with the day she had just had right? 

As Blake laid her head down on the pillow and slipped an arm underneath it she felt something hard and metallic bump against her wrist, that was odd. Blake pulled off the pillow to see something that resembled that stopwatch of Jaune’s except this one had a purple and black theme. That was weird, where had it come fro-

Blake’s train of thought was cut off by a knock at the door of her room and as Blake moved to open it she was met with the face of true evil staring up at her with more intelligence than it had any right to.

“Good evening madam, I believe I’ve been looking for you for a long time now.” A smooth, cultured voice said with perfect diction.

Blake shrieked and clambered back up onto her bunk as quickly as she could while the monstrosity looked at her, confusion spread across it’s disgusting face.

“If this is about the fracas earlier this evening madam I am terribly sorry for my part in it but for whatever credit I may be due I did properly belt that scoundrel you were fighting. Surely we can use that as a basis going forward in our partnership?” Said the blue furred, canine digimon with bright red boxing gloves.

  
  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Hey y’all, sorry it’s a day late. I hope you enjoyed the chapter as we finally finish out volume 1 of RWBY lol. So just a heads up I’m gonna be taking a hiatus from uploading for the next few weeks. I’m gonna be taking a break for the holidays, partially because, ya know, holidays and partially because I’ve been writing with no buffer ever since I started and trying to get stuff out every Friday is kinda exhausting even if I still love writing lol. So yeah I figured a holiday break would be just what the doctor ordered. I observe Three Wise Men’s Day so y’all should expect to see me back with uploads on January 8th. I hope you all have a great day and a happy set of whatever holidays you observe, and remember, don’t forget to love each other.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I OWN NOTHING**

  
  


“So what’s she like?”

Jaune glanced back towards the scroll laying on his desk as he rummaged through his closet pulling out two button down shirts. “She’s awesome, she’s… she can make me feel like the greatest man on Remnant and a tongue tied idiot at the same time somehow. She was there for me a lot during a rough patch at the start of the semester and she didn’t have to be. She didn’t stop being there after it was over either. She makes me feel like I don’t have to hold back when she’s around.” Jaune answered truthfully as he held up both shirts to the screen.

“Oh bless your heart,” The tinny voice of his sister giggled through the speakers. “That was very poetic Jaune, but I meant stuff like her name and what she’s actually like doofus. And no don’t go for the solid yellow one. Ya look better with patterns. Do you still have that blue and black plaid I got you? The flannel one?”

“Yeah it’s in the back of my closet. Plaid though? Really?” Jaune asked as he went to fetch the shirt in question.

“Mhmm, the blue should help bring out your eyes and both your eyes and the blue in the shirt lean towards jewel tones so the black offsetting it should help make the color pop even more. Also what kinda rough patch?”

“Nothin' bad,” Jaune did his best to wave her off as he moved back to the closet to look for the shirt in question while avoiding eye contact through the video call. “I just had one of my funks. You know how I can get. It was fine, really. Plus she helped out a lot! Even when she didn’t have to.”

“Well that certainly earns her a few points, and it was just a random funk with nothing causing it? Really?” 

“Yep! Absolutely nothing wrong and everything has been smooth sailing the entire time.” Jaune lied through his teeth to his older sister as he grabbed the shirt in question. Plaid flannel or not it really was quite nice.

“Uh-huh… Gui, honey, wanna be the favorite brother for a bit and tell me what actually happened?" 

“There was a racist butthead at the start of the semester that was making life difficult for a bit and then he found out about the study from when Jaune and me were little and found out some stuff about Nora too, she’s the girlfriend by the way, and spread it all around campus but me and Jaune handled it months ago and it’s been quiet ever since.” Spoke the filthy traitor from behind Jaune as he played some kind of video game with Ren. Useless the both of them.

“Nothin' huh?” Turning Jaune witnessed the familiar sight of Violetta Arc’s Look of Displeasure number forty-eight. This particular model boasted a surprisingly even mix of unimpressed and irritated allowing her to transition quickly and easily into another look if the situation required it. Part of the secret was the way she tightened her eyes while keeping her brow and forehead relaxed and her rabbit ears tilted back and away.

“Vi could we not get into this right now, please?” Jaune begged off as he walked up with the shirt in question and held it up for her to inspect. “It got handled months ago, I’m fine now, and I still have a date tonight I need to get ready for.”

“Fine, fine.” Vi acknowledged over the phone and Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t need well meaning over protection right now. “Why didn’t you just say it was Nora though? I actually liked her the couple of times I spoke to her. And yes definitely that shirt, you look positively dapper.”

“Honestly this is still new and I’m really scared of messing everything up and I don’t want y’all to give me or Nora a hard time if it doesn’t.” Jaune admitted quietly as he rubbed the back of his head. “You know I’ve never actually gone on a date before. I was gonna skip on telling any of y’all for a while but these three are useless.” Jaune shot back over his shoulder at the tail end of his explanation to his friends. All three of his friends.

“I don’t wear clothes.” Shot back Gui in what was honestly an airtight argument as the only article of clothing the digimon had on was his typical goggles hanging loosely around his neck.

“I already gave you my advice.” Spoke up Sun from his spot on Pyrrha’s bed where he looked through Jaune’s comics for something to read. “Do what I do, show a little skin. She’ll be drooling over you in no time as long as you’ve been following those workout tips I told you.”

And that left Ren to round out the pack as he proceeded to decimate Gui in their match. “I told you there was no need to worry about it. Nora is pretty laid back and will be happy no matter what the two of you do as long as you do it together. That and if you do anything to actually hurt her I trust her to break your legs like dry twigs”

“See what I mean?” Jaune continued to his sister as the rest of the group went back to what they were doing. “Plus I kinda didn’t want the heat of y’all finding out that I’m kinda living with my girlfriend already since we’re on the same team.”

“Temptiiiiin',” Vi’s tinny voice hummed as she nodded on the screen. “But it kinda doesn’t count since y'all're teammates like you said. Plus you’re also living with her brother. And your brother. I’d be really surprised to see you getting up to much of anything,” his sister laughed. “Where is Nora anyway?”

“She’s getting ready too.” Jaune answered simply as he shrugged on the shirt over a black undershirt. “Apparently Velvet’s team leader offered to take her shopping when she heard about the date. I think it might be an apology kinda for how the mission went the other day. Two of our other friends, Weiss and Blake, should be with 'em.”

\--HoH--

“Alright short stuff. I get it. You’re cute and you like cute things but a pale pink dress with your skin tone isn’t doing you any favors.” Argued the fashionista as she stared down at Nora.

Nora however wasn’t having any of it though. “I’m sorry. Who’s gonna be wearing it? I think the dress would work great with the right jacket. Besides, Weiss-cream is paler than me and she wears white. What’s wrong with pastels?” The pint sized berserker argued back as she clutched the dress.

It really wasn’t supposed to be this complicated. The plan had been to just head out and pick up some nicer clothes that weren’t her school uniform or armor reinforced. She had invited Blake, Weiss, and Velvet to come with so they could make a day of it. Apparently Velvet had mentioned it offhand to Coco though so the older girl had invited herself hoping to use Nora to play dress up and it seemed that now wherever Blake went Gao followed by default. Much to the raven haired faunus’ horror and consternation. 

Speaking of the hound in question was walking up with a look of disappointment written clear across his face. “Pardon me madam, I asked the sales clerk if they had any of the items you requested but unfortunately they seem to be out of stock at the moment.” Credit to him, Gao was a perfect gentleman and incredibly helpful, with a personality that somehow naturally leaned towards the kind of behavior Nora had seen from old timey butlers on tv. At the moment though Nora would kill for him to be a little less helpful.

“Hmmm did you ask Coral or Clementine?” Coco asked as she turned to the mon, giving Nora a short break from the too dedicated fashionista. “Clementine is the taller one with hair the same color as Shortstack here. She’s been working here longer than Coral and is better at finding where some little things are hidden. Go talk to her and tell her Coco is the one asking. Actually while you’re at it see if you can bring a selection of earrings as well, soooomething silver.” Coco finished as she gave Nora another once over and the courteous canine was off with a nod. Really he could stand to be a little less helpful, someone would end up taking advantage of him. Wait.

“Who are the earrings for? I don’t have mine pierced.” Nora asked hesitantly both knowing and vaguely dreading the answer as she saw the corner of Coco’s mouth pull into a smirk once again.

“Yeah I have a trick for that using aura if we find any you like that look cute.” Coco smiled and Nora felt a shiver down her back as the woman, who Nora was fairly certain was either a mad scientist with fashion or a sadist, looked her up and down and nodded once again before pulling out another longer dress in a deep blue. “And to answer your other question it’s a matter of detail. She looks really good in white and the dress has a gradient building to a darker shade of blue. That stacked onto the red lining inside the inside of the jacket to give a splash of more vibrant color leading to an outfit that is deceptively simple at first glance with plenty of detail. Also Weiss has dresses that cost more than this shop that were tailor made specifically for her.”

“Yeah? Weiss also has more money than at least two of the four kingdoms put together.” Nora snarked as she took the dress from Coco and tried it on. Blegh, she hated longer skirts like this, they were so much harder to move in. And there were no pockets! Why were there no pockets? Her combat skirts had pockets and the beacon uniform at least had shirt pockets. The displeasure must’ve been clear on her face as she stepped out because she caught Coco trying to hide a snort behind her hand while Velvet and Blake both just facepalmed.

“Really don’t think this is my style guys.” Nora grumbled as she faced her current panel of judges. Where was Weiss anyway? The heiress had kinda just wandered off when she and Coco had started arguing. 

“Maybe something a bit more casual or sporty?” Velvet hedged with wince as she and Blake shared a grimace and Nora felt her mood sour more watching the interaction. 

“Hmmm probably,” Coco admitted with a tilt of her head as she circled Nora, looking her up and down and very much leaving the valkyrie feeling like either a cut of meat or a monkey in a zoo. She wasn’t sure which. “I wanted to give the sexy yet elegant thing a try but it might be a bit much for a first date. Plus the long dress isn’t doing much for her legs and it’d be a shame not to let her show them off a bit. Can’t see how someone so short can have legs so long. Still think we should try some other colors though. I know we all have our signature colors and everything but maybe we could give forest green a try? Maybe break away from pastels just a tiny bit and go for darker, richer colors.”

“ **SHE** is right here.” Nora deadpanned with her arms crossed as she looked up towards the girl who was still wearing her sunglasses indoors for some reason. “Coco all I wanted was casual clothes that weren’t my combat gear and maybe something a tiny bit nicer for the date. This is kinda a lot. Plus most of the stuff you’ve had me try on is way outside of my budget.”

“Don’t worry about that part.” Cut in the voice of Weiss Schnee as she rejoined the group, arms full of clothes. “My allowance is more than some people’s yearly salaries, I can afford to spoil a friend every now and then as long none of you try to abuse the privilege.” The heiress finished as she looked Nora up and down once before shaking her head. This stupid dress she was wearing…

“Blue isn’t bad Nora but that’s too dark for you. You need something lighter to go with it.” The Schnee began as she dropped the clothes in a nearby chair before digging through the resulting pile and tossing two pieces of clothing in particular her way. “Go back and try these on instead if you don’t mind. We’re running short on time.”

Rushed by the heiress Nora stepped back into the dressing room and began changing into the new clothes. Weiss’ urgency carried the tiny berserker along, with her not thinking to ask Weiss exactly how they could be pressed for time when it was only one in the afternoon and she and Jaune were supposed to meet up for the date at six. Still as she finally properly looked at what Weiss had grabbed for her Nora couldn’t help the wide grin that split her face.

As Nora stepped out she was met with a satisfied looking Weiss, an exasperated Coco, a surprised Velvet and a blushing Blake who was slowly climbing down from where she was standing on her chair while the other three weren’t paying attention. But why…? Oh. Gao was back. Blakey really needed to work on that whole thing. Like he looked like a dog yeah, but he wasn’t. Was it a phobia (she was LOVING that word a day calendar) or was it that the black cat faunus just disliked dogs that much? Also people were saying things? Oh it was about her outfit!

“The skinny jeans are definitely good for letting her show off her legs I’ll admit,” Coco said begrudgingly as she took in the sight of the much more energetic Nora. “But blue and pink plaid really? You couldn’t go for something a little classier?”

“Nora likes clothes that are blue, pink, and easy to move in.” Nora heard Weiss explain as showed off to the group before eyeing the pile of clothes that Weiss had brought over. Was there anything else good in there? Oh Weisscream was still talking, “I have ticked off all of those boxes and she looks good at the same time. You’re just jealous because she likes what I picked out better.” Weiss said with a triumphant grin thrown towards Coco and Nora hadn’t thought it was a competition but maybe that was changing considering Coco’s brow had just furrowed and Nora was pretty sure that the fashionista was glaring behind her sunglasses now.

Oh by the King and Knights they were gonna escalate into a fashion fight with Nora as the battlefield/model if she didn’t do something to distract at least one of them. “Hey Gao, did you find any of the stuff Coco was looking for?” She called trying to catch the attention of both the polite digimon and her competitive upperclassmen. 

“Oh! Pardon me.” Responded the dogmon as he turned away from his blushing partner. “I’m terribly sorry Ms. Adel but I spoke to Ms. Clementine and she was unable to find the items you had asked for. She did however assist me in gathering a number of earrings and other pieces of jewelry as you requested.”

“Well, if that’s how the shortstack wants to dress we can at least see if we can fancy her up with a couple of accessories then.” Coco grumbled as she waved over Nora and the smaller mon. “Well carrot top? See anything here you like?”

Nora sifted through the small pile of admittedly and thankfully cheap jewelry. At least Nora hoped it was cheap if they were willing to just let Gao bring a pile of it over here with no supervision. Digging through Nora was about to say no to the entire pile before something caught her eye. “Hey Coco what was that trick you said you had?” The tiny valkyrie asked as she held up her prize. A small pair of stud earrings shaped like hearts.

“Huh. Well no one can say it isn’t on brand.” The brown gunner mused as she looked at Nora’s choice. “If you’re sure that’s all you want then I’ll help you out when we get back to the dorms. It’s nothing complicated though. I’ll pierce your ears and then while the earrings are in you flood the area with your aura. Skip through the whole healing process in about two or three minutes. You’ll still need to keep them in pretty consistently for a few months though if you don’t want the hole to seal back up though, fair warning.”

“Cool! Thanks Coco,” Nora nodded as she smiled at her upperclassman. “Does it hurt a lot?”

“Naw, not at all.” Coco promised.

The sharp yelp that came from the team CFVY dorm later that afternoon proved Coco to be a dity, rotten liar.

\--HoH--

Jaune gulped nervously as he waited for Nora by the airship docks. What if she got held up? What if she changed her mind? What if she…. blegh, Jaune needed to get his head on straight. She had been just as if not even more excited for this date than he had been. All he needed to do was follow the plan and show Nora an awesome time and not fuck up….. oh by Color he was going to be sick.

No! He could handle this! He and Nora already really liked each other and the plan for the evening was rock solid! He just needed his stomach to stop tying itself in knots. Maybe he should head back to the room to take another anti nausea pill? Jaune was moving to do just that when a small body crashed into his back and strong arms wrapped around his middle from behind.

“Hey Jaune-Jaune! Ready to go?” The chipper voice of Nora Valkyrie asked as she tightened the hug around his middle and swayed from side to side, Jaune following the motion.

“Yup!” Jaune laughed as he stretched a grin across his face and even with his stomach flip-flopping and his nerves he didn’t have to force it. She was here! He was actually on a date, a real date, with one of his best friends. “You ready?”

“One sec,” Nora requested and Jaune paused, about to ask the pint sized berserker what she needed when he felt the familiar sensation of Ms. Valkyrie jumping up onto his back and wrapping her arms around his shoulders while cinching her legs around his waist. “Onward Cornelius the Twenty-Fourth!” Commanded Queen Nora imperiously.

“At once my liege!” Jaune responded in mock seriousness as he hooked his arms under her legs and started walking. Wait, “The twenty-fourth? I thought I was Cornelius the Second?” Jaune asked with a teasing lilt in his voice as he walked.

“I’m certain I don’t know what you mean Cornelius the Thirty-Third.” Jaune heard Nora answer behind him in that same imperious voice. “As far as I remember you’ve always been Cornelius the Sixteenth. You must be mistaken.”

“Whatever you say Nora.” Jaune laughed as he stepped onto the airship and moved to find a seat. 

“So what’s the plan for the evening Jaune-Jaune?” The carrot top asked as she dropped from his back and moved to take a seat next to him allowing Jaune to finally get a decent look at his date for the evening. Funnily enough they were matching kinda. She was wearing her own flannel shirt except hers was in pink and light blue with black skinny jeans and most eye-catching was the pair of silver, heart-shaped earrings she was wearing. Actually, “Have you always had your ears pierced? I feel like I should’ve noticed that before.” 

With a nearly imperceptible flinch Jaune watched Nora reach up and lightly rub at one of her ears before shaking her head. “They’re actually kind of a recent thing. Do you like them?” She finished shyly and Jaune was fairly certain you could fry an egg on his face from the heat of the blush that had spread across it as she looked up at him.

“I think they look great and you look amazing.” Jaune answered honestly as he reached up and began absently rubbing the back of his head. “Of course I think you always look amazing so maybe I’m biased.” the young huntsman laughed.

“I mean I do tend to look pretty great all the time don’t I?” Nora giggled even as Jaune saw her own blush spread across her pale skin. “Thank you though,” she smiled bashfully. “Now what’s the plan for our date? Quit changing the subject!”

“Alrighty, alright!” Jaune laughed as he held up his hands in surrender. “There’s a pretty nice Mistrali place that Yatsuhashi recommended, apparently he took Velvet there on their first date and I figured we could try it out. For after dinner I got us tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie that just opened this weekend. And I figure after that we could figure things out. Maybe a walk in the park? Maybe that all night bowling alley with the arcade in it? I kinda left the end of the evening open ended since I wasn’t sure what you’d like to do more.”

“It all sounds pretty good to me Jaune-Jaune.” Nora assured him with a smile, much to Jaune’s relief. “I’m just glad we can get some time to ourselves tonight honestly. Is it just me or have our friends been a little more clingy lately since we made it official?”

“Hmmm… maybe a little a bit?” Jaune responded, but honestly it at least felt like it was kinda a lot. “I think it’s just ‘cause it’s new so everyone is interested. It’ll probably calm down after awhile.” That or he and Nora were just noticing it more because they were actively looking for more time alone than before.

“Maybe” Nora acknowledged with a quiet hum as she drew out the eee. “Still, for now let’s just have some fun tonight yeah?”

“Definitely. Like I said I got everything all planned out. Everything should go perfectly!” Jaune promised. Halfway through the flight his anti-nausea medication wore off suddenly. The other passengers became very much aware of this fact in a hurry.

\--HoH--

“Ooooo that’s rough, at least he managed to make it to the trash can in time.”

“How’s Nora reacting?”

“Very supportive,” Gui answered as he spied on his brother and teammate on their date. “She’s ran to one of the vending machines to get him some water and now she’s rubbing his back. Oof this is a bad one.”

“Didn’t you three make sure he took his pills before leaving?” Cut in the harsh whisper of Weiss Schnee from behind Gui.

“We did!” Defended Sun as the monkey faunus whisper shouted behind Gui’s back. “But he was all nervous and panicky so he left like half an hour early to make sure he was there on time and you guys had Nora there a bit late so maybe they wore off?”

“Ughhh that idiot.” Weiss groused and Gui heard something that sounded like a slap and he was willing to bet it was Weiss facepalming. Looked like Jaune was able to keep the water down and now they were both smiling, that was a good sign. It seemed like the Plan was coming along nicely. Happy Jaune and nieces and nephews for Gui to spoil, it would be perfect.

“I mean you have to admit it’s kind of adorable in an innocent, dorky way though.” Cut in the sardonic voice of Blake. “Also why exactly are we out here? This feels kinda stalkerish...”

“Gotta support the bros.”

“I’m ensuring that our friends’ first date goes smoothly. After all, I bought Nora those outfits.”

“I simply go where you go ma’am.”

“I had nothing better to do and Gui and Sun made me come with.”

“I need to make sure this date goes smoothly. I’ll be having that boy happy and I’ll be having my nieces and nephews.” Finished Gui as he felt the airship land. “Come on, keep track of them.”

“Wait Gui, what was that about nieces and nephews?” Called Blake nervously from behind him.

“No time for that! Let’s move out.”

\--HoH--

“Look Gui all I’m saying is they’re a little bit young to be thinking of or pushing for things like that.” Blake brought up the previous conversation as Weiss used her chopsticks to lift her next bite to her mouth. Really this place was a goldmine. The service was exquisite and while the menu was possibly a bit much, (high end steak and lobster for lo mein really?), the food was oh so very delicious.

“I’m a digimon, remember? I have plenty of time.” Gui responded as he lifted a steamed pork bun to his mouth. “I don’t age like you guys do. We kinda live forever as long as we don’t take enough damage to force us to reformat. The only way old age gets us is if we choose to intentionally reformat.”

“Wait, digimon are immortal?” Weiss asked in surprise as she set down her chopsticks turning towards the red dinosaur. To her surprise though the one who answered her question was Gao as Gui happily chewed on his food.

“To a certain extent yes madam, it might be better though to say that we are ageless.” Explained the blue canine as he made a so-so gesture with his boxing glove clad paw. “As master Gui has stated sufficient damage or a conscious choice can cause us to reformat and reformatting is…. Well it has some cursory similarities to the concept of reincarnation in your world.”

“How so?” Ren asked, the curiosity clear on his face as Weiss watched him lean into the conversation.

“Oh! Sham actually explained it to me once,” jumped in Sun as he swallowed a bite. “So when a digimon reformats what they come back as is kinda random. It could be them exactly the same, it could be someone completely new with nothing at all in common, it could be their mind in a completely new body, and it could be a completely new person inside a body just like theirs. It’s a complete crapshoot.”

“Indeed Master Wukong,” continued Gao, ignoring the response of ‘just call me Sun, dude’ from the monkey faunus. “There is a definite element of randomness to it. As such death is… different for digimon. I can understand Master Gui’s desire to make sure both that his companion is happy and possibly see about companions in the future. Connections are important after all. He’s simply being a bit more proactive about it than I’d recommend.”

“So you’ll outlive all of us?” Weiss heard herself ask as she looked to her digital friends both new and old. Gui simply nodded woodenly as he continued to slowly chew on his food.

The somber mood that had overtaken the table managed to drag on just long enough to be uncomfortable when Blake made a simple observation. “Guys where are Jaune and Nora?” 

Weiss picked her head up and leaned back in her chair to catch a glimpse of their friends’ table and as Blake observed they were nowhere to be seen. Quickly Weiss grabbed the attention of the waitress as she walked by, truly the service here was impeccable. There was always someone right nearby.

“What can I do for you Ms. Schnee?” Asked the waitress, a twenty-something year old woman with blonde hair and brown eyes.

“I’m sorry to bother, but do you know what happened to the couple at the table over by the window? They were both dressed in flannel?” Weiss asked politely as she looked to the slightly older woman.

“Did anything happen ma’am? Were they causing problems? I can have them banned from the premises if you like?” The waitress finished to Weiss’ mounting horror.

“Wh-? No!” Spluttered Weiss angrily as she felt her face flush with her temper. “They’re our friends and they’re on their first date! I just wanted to make sure their dinner was going ok and if they had left!”

As the waitress’ face became downcast and her demeanor grew nervous, Weiss felt her stomach plummet. “What happened?”

“I… uhhh… let me go check and see if I can find out who was supposed to be waiting on their table and I’ll get back to you.” The nervous woman stammered before rushing off.

“So we’re following her to eavesdrop and find out what actually happened right?” Sun asked the group nonchalantly as Weiss began to fume.

“Yep.” Answered the heiress simply.

A quick walk by the doors to the kitchen had the group listening in on a damning conversation.

“Shit! How was I supposed to know they were her friends!?” Came the voice of their waitress in a whisper shout.

“Well if you had done your job and waited both tables properly there wouldn’t be an issue now would there?”

“Oh screw you Terry.” The voice of their waitress snarled. “One table has two kids dressed in denim and flannel. The other had Weiss-Friggin-Schnee and her large group of friends. That’s a tip and table of a lifetime. I figured the couple were just planning to dine and dash anyway. I got them their water and then I was gonna starve them out.” Weiss felt her stomach drop to somewhere in the vicinity of her knees at the admission. They had ruined Jaune and Nora’s dinner. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…...

“Which you accomplished wonderfully.” ‘Terry’ responded sarcastically, cutting off Weiss’ train of thought. “What are you gonna do now?”

“Make some shit up on the fly I guess.” Relented the waitress. “Gonna see if I can come up with a lie before I get back to the table.” What she was actually met with was a group of unimpressed huntsmen and huntresses staring her down the moment she opened the door.

“I’ll be taking the check now please.” Weiss said with the cold finality of a blizzard.

\--HoH--

She should’ve known better than to join in this madness. She could’ve had a quiet evening in the dorm reading with her new friend who-was-definitely-not-a-dog-she-just-had-to-remember-that. She could’ve done some proper research and preparation for hunting the White Fang in Vale as well as her new duties with the DHI. She could’ve been doing anything other than this.

How one date could go so wrong Blake would never know because this was ridiculous. The medicine being taken too early and Jaune throwing up on the airship made a certain amount of sense and was very in character for Jaune. Heck it was even adorable in a weird, dorky way.

The restaurant had been more than a little bit messed up and Blake couldn’t help the twinge of guilt as she remembered her part in that going wrong. The waitress had been mortified at being found out and Blake couldn’t help feeling a surge of sympathy at being faced with the wrath of an angry Schnee. But that just reinforced Blake’s whole point considering they probably could’ve avoided the trouble by just not showing up and tailing Jaune and Nora on their date. 

But this? This newest problem? This had to be a middle finger from some kind of deity. Blake groaned and did her best to shake off the sense of vertigo as she led another group through the iridescent mist. Seriously a rift randomly opening up around the theater right as their movie was about to start? The universe either had a sense of humor or it hated Jaune or Nora. At least the most recent group was the last of the movie goers that she and Gao had been able to find.

“What were you doing out here anyway Blake?” She heard Jaune ask from her left, curiosity clear in his voice, and Blake just hoped the suspicion she also heard was just in her imagination.

“I’ve been trying to hang out and bond with Gao more.” Blake answered and it wasn’t  _ completely _ untrue. “My issues with dogs haven’t been very fair to him, so I’m hoping spending more time together will help me get better at being around him.”

“Well that’s really cool of you Blake! I’m happy to hear it.” Jaune smiled back genuinely and Blake smothered the guilt of her small lie with the ease of practice. “Anyway you guys have fun. Me and Nora are still in the middle of a thing and I’d kinda like to get back to it. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to salvage this absolute disaster.” The last part had been muttered quietly but the cat faunus’ sensitive hearing had been able to pick it up anyway.

“You know Jaune,” Blake began neutrally. “Nora agreed to go out with you after having been friends with you for months. I’m pretty sure she’s plenty happy just doing stuff together with you. Maybe you should just go and do your regular thing together?” The black cat faunus finished as she did her best to offer her friend some support.

“Yeah… that might be the best idea honestly.” Jaune nodded quietly. “Thanks Blake, you and Gao have a good night ok?”

“You too Jaune.” And with that the two went their separate ways as Jaune tried to salvage his date and Blake began the work of wrangling her nosey friends back to the campus.

\--HoH--

Nora groaned happily as she bit into the juicy burger. She was starving!!! Hard to believe how rude those people at the restaurant were. Over an hour of waiting and no service. They weren’t even that busy!

“I’m sorry…” Her boyfriend quietly said as he stared at his burger.

Well that wouldn’t do. “Jaune for what? I’m having a great time!”

“But everything went wrong?” 

“So? None of it was your fault. Sometimes stuff just happens. I’m just glad I still got to spend the day with you.” Nora encouraged as she nudged her knight with a playful elbow.

“I mean I did kinda toss cookies on the airship,” and despite what he was saying Nora felt her smile pull a bit more wide and become more genuine as his tone switched from dour to sardonic.

“Ehhh I knew what I was getting into when we started dating.” Nora reassured him with a wink and a giggle before continuing. “Plus, ya know, burgers and fries on the pier as we look at the ocean kinda makes up for it I think.”

“Well I aim to please,” the blonde knight said in a sarcastic tone as he waggled his eyebrows and Nora couldn’t help laughing.

“Look at it this way, it’ll be an awesome story later.” Nora reasoned after her giggle fit calmed down. “Plus the next date will have to go better by default at this rate.”

“I’m getting a second date?” Jaune asked, surprise clear in his tone.

“Of course you are dork,” Nora said as she leaned into the taller boy’s side and wrapped an arm around his middle. “We could’ve done the same thing as always or had the date go even worse and you’d still get a second date. I wanted to go out with you, not a restaurant or a movie theater and I got plenty of alone time with you today.” Really he could be so silly sometimes. That’s what she was here for though.

“You really are awesome, you know that?” She heard Jaune say from above her with naked honesty and Nora allowed herself to preen at the praise. 

“I know Jaune-Jaune.” She said as she looked up at him and reflexively gulped. Their faces were  _ REALLY _ close together weren’t they? Oh and his was getting closer to hers. Or was hers getting closer to his? All Nora knew was their faces were getting really close to each other and she let her eyes close as her lips pursed.

The moment was then immediately ruined by an alert from their scrolls. Another rift in the same night!?

Nora wanted to rage at the injustice! The moment was perfect! It was gonna be their first kiss! Why couldn’t they wait- Nora’s train of thought came to a screeching halt as something soft and warm pressed against her lips and she reciprocated the kiss immediately as she felt herself melt bonelessly into the embrace.

“Ready to go save the day?” Jaune asked playfully as he broke the kiss and stared down at Nora.

“Shit I’m ready to go save the year!” Nora cheered as she stood up and offered a hand to her boyfriend. “Let’s get moving flashlight!”

“I’ll be right behind you spark plug.” Jaune laughed and Nora grinned her customary manic smile. If this was what their relationship was gonna be like Nora was perfectly fine with it as she ran in the direction of the address on her scroll and began to dial her rocket locker. Maybe if they finished things up fast enough they could get back to the good part!

**AUTHOR’S NOTES:**

**Hey y’all sorry it’s a day late! Had to take a trip to the optometrist yesterday because my glasses pretty much got ruined and I’ve been half blind with blurry as heck vision for the past week which has made writing and editing difficult, that and the ten days straight on shift at work lol. Hopefully my new pair will be in by next friday and I do have like at least half of next Friday’s chapter finished so I’m gonna see if I can push through and get it done. I just feel bad what little buffer I had from Christmas is already gone as life got weird and I haven’t been able to crank out chapters like I used to. Anyway I hope y’all enjoyed a fluffy little chapter about our favorite couple’s first date. Take care everyone! And don’t forget to love each other!**


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